8/11/2019 We Had No Voice

1/2

We Had No Voice: Penelopes Maids in Margaret Atwoods ThePenelopiadMargaret Atwoods The Penelopiad , a revisioning of the Odyssey , providesauthorial voices forthe characters of Penelope and the twelve serving aids who are strung up li!ethrushes or pigeons at theend of Odyssey ""# Penelope herself is the ain author of this te$t, narratingher life in prose for froHades# %he aids also address the audience fro the afterlife, in a series ofchoral passages which are atri&ute to 'Atwood ()*+ the choral sections of ancient ree! dra a# %hecontrast &etween the orderl-prose of Penelope and the wildl- pro iscuous generic te$tual variet- of the

aids graphicall- illustratesthe tension which Atwood creates &etween the istress of .d-sseuss houseand her slaves# Atwoodsrendering of the contrapuntal voices of the aids and Penelope in ThePenelopiad produces an e$tre einterpretation of the politics of gender, se$ and status in the household of.d-sseus#/n &oth Ho er and Atwood, Penelopes aids enact a se$ual &etra-al of thehousehold of .d-sseus# /n the se$ual and status econo - of the Odyssey , %hal ann notesthat the oralit- of the freeand enslaved fe ales is utuall- dependent and e$clusive: in order forPenelope to &e perceived asinnocent, a slave ust &e guilt- '%hal ann 0(+# /n Atwoods The Penelopiad ,however, the oralpolarit- is reversed: Penelope is guilt- and her aids are innocent# AtwoodsPenelope descri&es her

aids initial control over their own se$ualit-, re1ecting the situation in theOdyssey '%hal ann 02+:%he- were ever31owing fountains of trivial gossip: the- could co e and gofreel- in the palace, the-could stud- the en fro all angles, the- could listen in on their conversations,the- could laugh and 4o!ewith the as uch as the- pleased: no one cared who ight wor his wa- in&etween their legs'Atwood 02+# %his Penelope, however, e$erts her own control over her aids &-herself stage3 anagingtheir riotous, o5ensive activities with the suitors 'Atwood (263(27+# Atwoods

aids are on a sp-ingission for Penelope which &eco es fatal as a result of Penelopes sinister,

a &iguous negligence insharing her plot with 8ur-!leia 'Atwood ((9+# The Penelopiad i plies thatPenelopes &ehaviour is an actof revenge for the aids fre uentl- degrading speech towards Penelope, and

ost especiall-, for their&etra-al of her tric! of the shroud# Atwoods Penelope, who un uestiona&l-recogni;es her returning

8/11/2019 We Had No Voice

2/2

hus&and, ta!es her place alongside .d-sseus and %ele achus as the- allfashion the noose around thenec!s of the twelve girls#Atwoods The Penelopiad paints a sharp picture of the wo en who inha&it.d-sseuss housewhile he is a&sent# An- solidarit- &etween Penelope and the other wo en ofher household, all her slavesafter the death of Anticleia, is a irage undercut &- env- and &etra-al#Atwoods narrative, which to-ssuggestivel- with the aids as Penelopes sacri