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So what? What is Murray-Smith and Atwood teaching us about? (General…
So what? What is Murray-Smith and Atwood teaching us about?
Times of crisis
manic
expose innermost troubles and concerns
Penelope
Meryl and Theresa
enslavement in maternal role
momentary and women can overcome them
rebirth/renewal
resilience/change
offers useful ways of getting around some of the pitfalls of being a woman
characters are faced with the moment in which their lives become less stable or what they have relied on or known has starts to fail them
the theme described in authors note of 'women on the edge' unites the 6 characters
Jealousy
feeds insecurities
many optimises the generalisations associated with teenage girls having total belief in ones self and ones abilities
Tiggy Entwhistles halting monologue in continually interrupted by a pause or a 'beat' as she struggles to compose herself or to reveal a painful truth
is this always the case?
Winsome and other widows
keep each other company and offer a support network
women may have been forced by gender to congregate and work together but this does not mean they would necessarily form close bonds or protect each other
Penelope describes herself as being alone
owns her own past, other disregarded
Zoe Sruthers has risen above the negative nature of competitiveness
as the daughter of a naiad, penelope has a close affinity of water, her way is not to challenge but to find a way to get whats she wants with cunning
is this always a bad thing
motivating factor
Penelope
managing the farm
giving a characteristic Helen doesn't have
exposing Helen's short coming
teenager represented by May
resilience, egotistical
weapon (resilience)
the contrast is drawn out by atwood in a series of binary opposites and in the
personal antiginism
between the two women in the underworld
inappropriate conversations about other women
cut throat world
beneath the bravado is a nagging fear that someone else might win
the label of widow for Winsome becomes an anchor in her life in which her needs are mostly ignored
these interrelated narratives suggest close community network in which women measure themselves against other women
Post feminist literature
empowerment 'sisterhood'
stroytelling
in atwoods retelling oh homeriac myth 'women speak' and what they speak of are not 'heros and incredible feats' but the 'the inhumanly human things' done in war time
the effect is to subvert (undermine) the archaic, heroic, masculine perspective of the source text by countering it with an ironic, witty, modern sounding female voice
atwood debunks the version of the story found in the odyssey by suggesting a prosaic (ordinary), less heroic alternative
the hanged maids tale
the maids increasily interupt the narrative of Penelope
the denounce the 'inhuman things' done to them by Odysseus and expose the partiality of Penelope's story
their voices are witty parodic, tongue in cheek but also plaintive and haunting
they form a chorus (linked to ancient greek drama) and provide a plurality of perspectives
penelope's narrative is interspersed with snippets of the maids point of view on how they are treated
atwood gives a voice to the voiceless victims of male violence
rather than resisting the authority of her mythical sources, atwood goes around it by probing them for what they leave unsaid
attempts to justify her decisions and makes sense of the challenges that have come her way
thus, penelope and atwood 'spins a thread of her own' on her mythical loom while the heroes of homeric myth are left to revel (celebrate), womanise, and slaughter outside
the voice murray-smith gives to each women expresses the challanges that can be faces externally but also more signicantly how difficult to deal emotionally with what happens to security and belief
provide the internal dialogue of how they cope with and react to the events
the owls (symbol) traditionally the keepers of knowledge, owls are the guardians of the underworlds
penelope says that she wants to scream out but when she does 'she sounds like an owl' which refers to the fact that she knows things about the events that take place upon Odysseus's return (these secrets must remain with her)
Penelope - distinct purpose of clearing her name
the reader must question her motives and facts as the relays them
atwood suggest that storytelling is a matter of perspective
individual empowerment
career
sexuality
if there are two means of survival availbale in the penelopiad "wit and clitoris" then Penelope relies mainly on the first, Helen on the second
Bombshells emphasises sexuality at all ages
Penelope's proposed relationships with suitors
maternal
Penelope
page 28 'penelope the duck
page 37 'plain jane penelope'
page 21 'i was smart, though...a plain but smart wife'
page 35 'second prize'
relies on her wits
Helen
relies on her sexual allure
page 22 'a woman who driven hundreds men mad with lust'
page 37 'radient Helen'
page 33 'intolerably beautiful'
Penelope is second prize, making Helen first prize
the opening line "now that i am dead i know everything' is an engaging and appealing start to the story. As the narrative progresses penelope'e builds her own voice as she becomes her own storyteller
post feminists are sexual activists who use their body and attractiveness as an instrument to achieve societal and personal change
Murray-Smith window into womanhood in a post feminist society show how easily modern women can disappear inside the impossible pressure to be great
post feminism concentrates on furthering the
idea of empowerment, the celebration of femininity, freedom of choice and liberation
these pro-feminist themes continually encourage the audience to evaluate the situation of women in society
resilience -change-
choice
respecting choice and not judging
Challenges of being a women
exacerbated by celebrity
inner/outer world collide
social expectations
many of these women define themselves in their relations with others and when these relationships break down through either divorce, or death or being on stage so does their concept of self
a crushing sense of monitory
the marginalised
the voice given to the maids provides an outlet for the marginalised and allows them to seek justice and vengeance
the ever changing form of the maids sections reduces their weight and significance in comparison to penelope and
diminishes their status as serious characters
(even the modern day court room scene, mostly ignores their point of view)
children, servants and women particularly less attractive women were among those who were without power of status in ancient greece
patriarchal society
women were treated as prizes or possessions
the use of penelope's voice as a narrator allows us to see how completely she outwits many of the men around her and that she is conscious of others perceptions of her (but we are aware of her regrets and defence of her actions)
as the underdogs in society dominated by men, the women of ancient greece, competed with eachother to be heard, noticed, or to sustain what little power they had
atwood draws out contrasting strategies for female survival in a world dominated by men
characters grapple to find words in an attempt to articulate these internal experiences
superficially reflect the stereotypical female ideals
these identities operate as contradictions in someones concept of self-feeling or self-being
clash uncomfortably with the characters needs to express their individuality thus creating pressures that erupt into turmoil
struggle to measure up to the various images of successful womanhood, celebrated in popular culture
burden of expectations
perfection
myth
just as Penelope does not confront her suitors or her husband head on, prefering to outwit them instead, so the penelopiad does not openly challenge or dispute the mythic narratives on which it is based
draws on a range of cliches
many of the women feel the need to be loved and accepted by men before they can be happy with their own identities
undermine the myth that marriage automatically provides a grounding sense of identity
Penelope and Odysseus's marriage bed is partly made from a tree symbolising the continuity and permanence of their marriage
her final scram is an expression of rage and despair directed at a society where women are seduced by romantic dreams and celebrity glamour and made to believe that these will bring happiness
atwoods presents penelope's world as one of survival
General sentences
unlike bombshells, the penelopiad is based on a hypotext which is an earlier text that serves as a source of a later work of literature
atwood reworks her male authord sources in much the same way that Penelope deals with the overbearing men in her life
we thus arrive at the crux of the probelm
these publications give voice to a diverse range of young women
Murray-Smith and atwood uncover the types of...
they pinpoint the challanges that face the 21st century women at different stages of their lives
black humour and humour is used frequently throughout the play to lighten the atmosphere and temper what would otherwise be a heavy or tense moment
penelopee's voice is at times cheeky and plain spoken
humour and sarcasm add a new perspective that challenges the idea that Penelope is just a loyal and subservient
crafter narratives offering multiple perspectives giving voices to those who are often silenced and power to the disempowered
their voice often changes (the maids) as it mimics several genre styles, at times it appears playful and fun and at other times sorrowful
as we move to each sections of maids their voice becomes increasingly angry
although the changing style of the maids voice may cause the reader to dismiss or gloss over their silliness is true greek theatre, their voice is the most authoritative
atwood draws on the archetypes of women in literature and challenges societal notions of these women as passive, victims or villians
atwood gives these women contemporary voices to challenge the restrictions of ancient greece
Two faces of war (power of storytelling)
the Illiad
the manly face of war
courage on the battlefield
equipment and generals
outside (public sphere)
epic poem
legacy
the Penelopiad
the womanly face of war
slaughter in the palace
the private sphere
Household goods and handmaids
multi-vocal mixed narrative
inhumanly human things - atrocias behaviour of war
adjectives to describe characters
Odysseus
cunning
resourcefulness
determination to return home