The Issue of Women's Perspectives in Narratives

In our daily lives, we often witness how the history of women is being altered by patriarchy and how their problems and complaints are devalued. For someone to believe in a woman and respect her, there needs to be a great effort on the woman’s part. Furthermore, in some cases, a woman's ideas and statements are not even heard. This is a situation we, as women, can best understand: how women are being altered by patriarchy and how their problems and complaints are devalued. For someone to believe in a woman and respect her, there needs to be a great effort on the woman's part. Furthermore, in some cases, a woman's ideas and statements are not even heard. This is a situation we, as women, can best understand. So, as a woman herself who understands this situation very well, Margaret Atwood shows everyone how different the core of a story can be if what the woman has to say is taken into consideration through the narration of Odysseia from Penelope and the Twelve Maids’ perspective. This work of art called The Penelopiad dictates how male-dominant society and narrative can change the perception of an incident and the women who partook in it.

Seeing a woman presented as a prize for a man to win has become commonplace in any type of artwork; however, Atwood reflects the so-called prize's perspective on being an object through Penelope's emphasis on her age, shyness, insecurities, and fears at the time a competition for her hand in marriage was held. As a 15-year-old girl, Penelope was scared of what would happen on her wedding night and of making an unpleasant marriage since she was affected by her cousin Helen’s words about her physical appearance. Thus, when she finds the man she got married to be a gentle person, she starts to have feelings for him. This beginning of Penelope and Odysseus’ marriage shows how a forced marriage, especially at a young age, can cause problems and how a marriage seen as a happy and pleasant one for both sides can be problematic.

Throughout the text, the claims made by some characters and the events that happen show how the way women are viewed and treated by society has changed over time, but it does not provide full justice every time. Especially in the court scene, where the Maids create an ambiance that presents the judgment of Odysseus for his crimes and the Maids’ seeking justice. After the trial, however, the judge justified Odysseus’ deeds by stating that they were normal behaviors for his time (Atwood, 147–152). So, the narrative of the maidens in this chapter shows how their stories and pains have been ignored by men throughout history, including at the time the book was written.

The entire book is most important thing that shows how women’s stories are not taken at face value. When everything inside the book is examined, the differences between the way it was told by a man and the way it is told by a woman are obvious. The male version, if that's the right word, is written to justify Odysseus' actions and present him as the right person in the story, while Penelope and the Twelve Maids show how a woman is supposed to be and what she can and cannot do. From the male perspective, the maids are villainous and disloyal, while Penelope is a perfect, loyal, and submissive wife, although weak "as a woman should be" and not so good-looking. Yet, in reality, the one certain thing is that the maids were the victims of male violence, as was Penelope, who was thrown into the water when she was a baby, treated poorly by her son for reasons that she had no control over, always expected to be loyal while letting her husband's disloyalty pass unchallenged, forced and harassed mentally by the suitor into marriage, and was not seen as having more than material value thanks to the dowry. Penelope's story, although maybe a little exaggerated and mixed with supernatural elements, shows how a woman’s telling makes a story so different and how important it is in some cases to see and understand the truth.

To summarize, The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood is one of the most important pieces of women's literature because of the issues it conveys by retelling an old story from the perspective of one of the most important characters.