The Spinning Wheel (Motif)
The idea of weaving and spinning is a key motif in this text. Penelope refers to her own story in relation to weaving when she says that she will "spin a thread of her own" (4). Throughout the text, Atwood associates the telling of the female narrative with the act of weaving and spinning. Later, Penelope uses the guise of spinning a shroud to protect her from suitors, showing the significance of weaving to the female experience. It also shows that though weaving is "women's work," it is a source of power and agency for Penelope.
The act of spinning is also related to the three Fates. In Greek mythology, they are three frightful sisters that spin the threads of men's lives and decide their fate. That they are women is significant—again, the act of spinning a thread is a source of great power and influence despite the fact that weaving is historically a "domestic" task and limited to the realm of women.
Penelope's Geese (Symbol)
"I then related a dream of mine. It concerned my flock of lovely white geese, geese of which I was very fond. I dreamt that they were happily pecking around the yard when a huge eagle with a crooked beak swooped down and killed them all, whereupon I wept and wept."
Odysseus interprets this dream as the geese being the suitors, but Penelope instead believes that the geese symbolize the twelve maids, and the eagle symbolizes Odysseus. As such, the dream represents the violent death of the maids at the hands of Odysseus. Significantly, Penelope's interpretation of her own dream is disregarded by Odysseus, which represents the assertion of the male perspective over that of women. The eagle is also described as having a crooked beak, which suggests that Odysseus is an imperfect figure of mythology, although he is usually depicted as a hero.
Penelope's Shroud (Symbol)
When the suitors are pestering Penelope to make a decision, she decides that she will not marry anybody until she has completed a funeral shroud for her father-in-law, Laertes. Every night, Penelope and twelve maids undo the work of the previous day, delaying the completion of the shroud. In the Penelopiad, the shroud is a symbol of Penelope's agency and control over the situation. The suitors cannot do anything until the shroud is complete, and they cannot oppose her task either, since it is "so extremely pious" (113). The fact that Penelope works on this shroud in the women's quarters shows the kinds of power available to her as a woman—she has no choice but to be crafty and secretive.
The shroud is referred to as "Penelope's web," a description that offends Penelope because it suggests she is like a spider, wanting to lure men in like flies. She clarifies that in reality it is the exact opposite, and the making of her shroud is instead a way to avoid capture herself.
The Twelve Maids (Symbol)
The twelve maids discuss their own symbolism in the chapter "The Chorus Line: An Anthropology Lecture." In this chapter, they sardonically parody anthropologists and literary critics who suggest that their deaths should be interpreted in a strictly symbolic manner. These scholars argue that the fact that there are twelve maids connects to the lunar calendar (because there are twelve months), and perhaps these maids stand for "twelve moon-maidens, companions of Artemis, virginal but deadly goddess of the moon" (164). In this reading, Odysseus kills these maids as "ritual sacrifices" in order to pay back the gods for allowing him to evade his own death. They argue: "usurping strongman Odysseus refused to die at the end of his rightful term. Greedy for prolonged life and power, he found substitutes" (167).
The maids themselves protest against this reading of their deaths. They are irate that their suffering is reduced to mere symbolism. They sarcastically address the audience of their lecture: "You don't have to think of us as real girls, real flesh and blood, real pain, real injustice. That might be too upsetting. Just discard the sordid part. Consider us pure symbol. We're no more real than money" (168).
The maids as owls (Symbol)
At the very end of the Penelopiad, Atwood offers an alternate fate for the maids: "The Maids sprout feathers, and fly away as owls" (196). Their last words are an address to Odysseus, Penelope, and the reader, which turn into owl-like whoing: "we call / to you to you / too wit too woo / too wit too woo / too woo" (195-6). Here, the owl symbolizes wisdom, rebirth, and moral purity. In Ancient Greece, the owl was a symbol of Athena, the goddess of wisdom. The maids, who were treated terribly in life, are able to enter a new state of being where they can leave behind their bodily forms. They transcend the cruelty of the human world and are finally given the justice they deserve.
