The author, Margaret Atwood, wrote a book called The Penelopiad. Margaret Atwood is from Ottawa (margaretatwood.ca). She attended University of Toronto and Radcliffe College, where she received her undergraduate degree and master’s degree(margaretatwood.ca) She has written more than forty books that are based on fiction, poetry, and critical essays. Margaret and the character from The Penelopiad, Penelope, are both females, therefore Margaret understands what Penelope goes through as a woman. Margaret is giving the side of the story from Penelope’s view. Margaret is seen as a feminist due to how she expresses the views of Penelope’s life. Margaret wants to show the audience or women, through the feminist criticism theory, that through history …show more content…
One way the audience can understand what she goes through is by feminist criticism. Feminist criticism is “reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women” (owl.english.purdeo.edu). She suffered since she was young. First, her father wanted to drown her because he saw her as a threat to his life. When she was in the water, ducks save her life. Secondly, suitors were not fighting for her love but for her wealth. Her emotions were the feeling of being seen as an object. Women were seen as an object and whoever marry them would be rich. Thirdly, she was judge on her appearance. Suitors always favor Helen due to beauty. All of this are example of feminist criticism showed in literature. Penelope, Helen, the maids, and other females where told what to do and were seen less than men. Through the story, women are treated as objects and not as human beings. In today’s world, females are still judged based on their looks. This goes on in the media and with social media. That is why the audience for this book is mostly females due to the main character and author being females who understand the struggles women …show more content…
By her examples, it showed that she was more than a wife seen as a prize. She was a hero because she raised her son with no father for twenty years. She managed to take care of her husband’s land by planting and raising animals. While the suitors where bothering her to choose a new husband, she stayed loyal and had hope for the return of Odysseus. She never gave up on her husband. Even though the story contains a lot of feminist criticism, she showed what women are capable of. She was more than just a
Even though people typically believe that the main hero of Homer’s the Odyssey is Odysseus himself, the true hero of the Odyssey is Penelope. Even though her entire story isn’t told in the epic poem, you can still tell that she went through struggles and trials just as her husband Odysseus did. Along with going through trials, she comes up with witty ideas in order to overcome them. She is very clever, and she also plans long-term. She is loyal to Odysseus and faithfully waits for his return.
The prejudice that the author brings forward strongly is the notion of feminism. The author’s main purpose of writing this novel is to examine the role of women played around
Although being written centuries apart, the limited expectations of women presented in ‘Othello’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ differ little from each other. The female characters are confined by society’s expectations of male dominance, female purity and virginity, and the many passive roles of women. Despite the differing legalities surrounding the position of women between the centuries in which the plays were written, both plays explore the impact of how societal conventions confine women and the ways they must comply to be safe in a patriarchal society. The behaviours and treatments of Desdemona, Blanche and Stella illustrate the attitudes enforced on and the behaviours of women throughout both periods in time and it is these attitudes and behaviours that impact the plays to the greatest extent. When characters in either plays defy their norms, or demonstrate a lack of compliance they induce negative consequences, such as the murder of Desdemona and the institutionalisation of Blanche.
In Homer’s Poem, The Odyssey, Penelope is the exceptionally patient and clever spouse of the infamous hero, Odysseus, and the mother of Telemachus. One poignant factor of Penelope’s character is her patience and devotion which is displayed throughout the poem. With her husband absent for a great majority of her life for the later of twenty years and his location unknown, Penelope stays, patiently awaiting Odysseus’ return, all whilst preserving their estate and raising her son by herself. Throughout this time, she had many persistent suitors in pursuit of her, abusing her husband’s absence.
They both uphold the general values society places on their sexes, but through their hardships they are able to gain a fluidity in these roles not often given in their society. Odysseus was able to express emotion without undercutting his masculinity, and was able to appreciate his wife for more than her domestic accomplishments. While Penelope became a paradigm of fidelity, she also embodied inner-strength as she dealt with the turmoil of her missing husband, rowdy suitors, and the destruction of her kingdom; which allowed Odysseus to come to appreciate her ingenuity and his marriage in
Odysseus defies the suitors and wins his wife and kingdom back. Despite Odysseus' overconfident nature, Odysseus proves he is a hero by showing bravery and intelligence. When it comes to being a hero, being brave is one of the most
During times of crisis, women have been marginalized continuously, and although many would like to think so, conditions for women have not changed much over time. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak both reflect that. Women in literature and in real life who deserve lead roles are often forced into supporting roles. Most people understand this but few acknowledge it. Strong female characters such as Liesel in The Book Thief, Penelope in The Odyssey, and Antigone in Antigone need to be honored the same way strong male characters are.
These women influenced the conditions of the journey by guiding Odysseus in different directions, and aiding him crucially. Their authority showed the idea behind an old proverb, which states, “Behind every great man there’s a great woman”. Throughout The Odyssey, the women exemplified their power during the course of Odysseus’ journey. Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, bravely held down the front in Ithaca while her husband struggled to find his way back home. In Book 18, Penelope spoke to the ever-so-desperate suitors about what Odysseus “told” her before he left.
In an epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus struggles to come back home while his wife, Penelope, faces barbarous suitors who plague her house to court her for the marriage in order to claim the kingship of Ithaca. With an absence of the man of the household and a son who is not old enough to rule over the country and handle the domestic complications, Penelope endeavors to keep the household orderly and civilized. In order to prevent further chaos in the household, Penelope maintains her role as the Queen of Ithaca and Odysseus’s wife through her loyalty and cunning. For a woman who does not know when her man will return home, Penelope is extremely strong to keep hope and wait for her husband; thus, her unwavering loyalty to her husband
Furthermore, Feminist Criticism provides a better view of literature because it shows that women can be powerful. When Emilia finds out that her husband has been plotting an evil plan she says,” Tis proper I obey him, but not now”(Othello V.2.195). Emilia refuses to help her husband after she finds the cruel intentions he has despite the expectation of women always being submissive to their husbands. Women also have a voice and feelings, they are capable of defying their husbands commands when they know what he expects is simply wrong. In a literary article,The Role of Women in Othello: A Feminist Reading states that,” Society weighs heavily on the shoulders of women; they feel that they must support the men and defer to them, even if the actions of the men are questionable” (Literary Articles).
Pomeroy plays on the heartstrings of women by not including the kind stories that men did for women during these times, although there were probably few. I would recommend this to others who want to know more about the treatment of women and the roles that they played in history. It is hard for me to believe all that was stated in the book was factual because of the fact women did not write during the time and the written scripts could have been written from a male perspective. As well as that there were not lots of information left behind, and paintings can be hard to
The Odyssey and Ulysses were meant to be the same character written by two different individuals. Both individuals encountered obstacles at some point in their lives. Odysseus and Ulysses were both considered a hero in today’s society along with their similar characteristics. The heroic qualities and themes presented in both pieces of the literature work emphasized the similarity between the two characters along with their differences.
The fourth and final paragraph compares Helen to Penelope to show how the patriarchy is so quick to put cruel diminishing labels on woman. Finally I have a work cited page containing the Odyssey, where I found all the supporting quotes for my paper. Penelope is one of several woman characters in
Research on the following literary theories: • New Historicism - New Historicism is a school of literary theory that first developed in the 1980s, primarily through the work of the critic and Harvard English Professor Stephan Greenblatt, and gained widespread influence in the 1990s. - When I looked for a definition for New Historicisms I found that it is seen as the every expressive act that is embedded into a network of material practices. - When we look at the Historical Criticism in a novel or a movie it is important to look at the author’s biography and social background, the ideas circulating at the time as well as the cultural era. - New Historicism is concerned with the political function of the literature and also the concept of
Feminist literary criticism’s primary argument is that female characters have always been presented from a male’s viewpoint. According to Connell, in most literary works, female characters often play minor roles which emphasize their domestic roles, subservience and physical beauty while males are always the protagonists who are strong, heroic and dominant (qtd. in Woloshyn et al.150). This means that the women are perceived as weak and are supposed to be under the control of men. Gill and Sellers say that feminist literary criticism’s approach involves identifying with female characters in order to challenge any male centred outlook.