Point of View

The author writes the novel from both Penelope and the 12 maids' points of view. The chapters devoted to Penelope's perspective are in her singular first person point of view, while the maids' chapters are told from a collective first person vantage. By granting Penelope and the maids narrative authority of The Penelopiad, Atwood allows Homer's classic myth to be retold from the female characters' perspectives. The women's voices are the driving narrative force behind the novel's progression and evolution, as well as each of its complex thematic explorations.

Penelope's first person point of view grants the reader a new angle on a familiar story. Penelope's account, given centuries after life in Ithaca, works to clarify the misconstrued details of the ancient myth. Narrating from the underworld, Penelope is desperate to claim her own voice, to act as the sole authority on her character and life...