Women of Troy by Pat Barker is a story that shifts between first-person narrative and third-person narrative. The protagonist is a female character called Briseis. The story begins after Greek warriors have conquered Troy. Briseis recounts the events that occurred in Troy 50 years later. After the fight ended, Greek warriors prepared themselves to get back home. However, they are stranded in a Trojan horse due to a strong wind which can’t allow them to sail to Greece. Briseis is a strong-spirited woman. Male members of her family have been murdered by Greek soldiers but she seems unmoved.
Greek warriors target and kill male Trojans and turn their women into slaves. Some of the women of Troy captured by Greek soldiers include Hecuba and Andromache. Hecuba was married to Priam, the Trojan King while Andromache was married to Hector. Briseis finds herself with fellow Trojan women. The reunion makes her feel delighted. Sometimes Briseis feels sad when she imagines that she is carrying a baby of a person who killed her father and brother. The killing of Trojan men was meant to exterminate the whole Trojan population.
The idea behind the story is to give readers an insight into how women suffer in case of a war. Trojan women were raped and impregnated by people who killed their male members. All the captured Trojan women are desperate and must cope with the death of their relatives. However, their captors are only concerned about how they will get back home. In the event of any war, women and children suffer more than men.
