The Penelopiad Literary Elements

Feminist literature, historical fiction

Ancient Greece, the Trojan War and its immediate aftermath

The narrator is Penelope, who offers an alternative perspective on the story of Odysseus.

The tone is grave, melancholy, and violent.

The protagonist is Penelope, and the antagonist is Helen.

The major conflict of the novel is between Penelope and the false version of her story, which she is trying to challenge.

The climax is the murder of the twelve maids.

Odysseus tells Penelope that if she cheated on him, he would kill her. This hint of his violence foreshadows his later killing of the maids.

Atwood believed that the significance of the killing of the twelve maids has been understated in typical cultural representations of this story.

Atwood alludes to many figures of Greek mythology, including Helen of Troy.

This book is full of imagery of violence, most notably when Odysseus kills the maids.

N/A

The experiences of the twelve maids are paralleled with the experiences of Penelope, as they are all women living in ancient Greece.

Atwood uses the word "grave" as a metonym for death.

Charybdis is the personification of a whirlpool.