Point of View

The novel is written from both Ariadne’s and Phaedra’s first person points of view. The entirety of Part I is written from Ariadne’s point of view. In the prologue, Ariadne’s narrative voice is familiar and conversational. Yet she does not reveal her identity until the final paragraph of the section saying, “And what possible use could my father, King Minos of Crete, ever have for a treacherous daughter” (2)? By keeping Ariadne’s identity off the page until the final line of the prologue and waiting to present her name and title until Chapter 1, the author enacts the nature of Ariadne’s role. In Part I, Chapter 1, she says, “I am Ariadne, princess of Crete” (5). Though she is a member of the royal family, because Ariadne is a young woman, her identity is seen as ancillary to those of the male characters...