Penelope Is a Modern Woman: What Margaret Atwood’s Penelopiad Tells Us About Women in Contemporary Society
By Shoshana Hill
Over the course of the 21st century, the number of feminist retellings of classical stories has
increased significantly; Atwood’s The Penelopiad, published in 2005, is one of the most
renowned examples. It is a narrative adaptation of The Odyssey, centring around Penelope and her life. Atwood makes numerous distinct changes to the characterisation of Penelope
alongside her relationships with those around her. In doing so, Atwood explores the
consequences of living in a patriarchal society on both Penelope and others. Atwood treats this story not as an accurate representation of a woman’s experience living in the Mycenaean
Bronze Age, but as an allegory for the struggles of 21st century women in our more subversivelypatriarchal society. She does this through focusing on certain relationships and characters who symbolise these struggles, such as Penelope and her son Telemachus, who represents men growing resentful of their mothers and being drawn into misogyny. Atwood also examines the relationship between Penelope and her cousin Helen, using them as a representation of how women can internalise misogyny, leading them to compete with each other as a result.
Atwood shows the development of Penelope’s relationship with Telemachus over time, as
Penelope struggles to retain respect from him as a result of the patriarchal influences he has
grown up around. This perhaps mirrors contemporary groups of extreme misogynists online. As Telemachus becomes older, he increasingly resents Penelope as he watches her seemingly
enable the suitors’ disrespect towards their house. Penelope describes how ‘he was starting to
look at [her] in an odd way, holding [her] responsible’ for the actions of the suitors (Atwood 2005, 109). Penelope describes herself being at an impasse, neither able to marry a suitor, nor able to order them to leave her house without inciting the men to attack her as a result of the refusal. This is, again, reminiscent of the violent behaviours of ‘incels’ (involuntary celibate men) today, when they are confronted with rejection. However, Telemachus seems incapable of understanding her dilemma, instead blaming Penelope for the suitors’ continued presence and thus growing more resentful of her.
Telemachus’ resentment later grows into a lack of respect for his mother’s authority. Penelope states how she had ‘run the palace affairs for twenty years, but now [Telemachus] wanted to assert his authority as the son of Odysseus’ (Atwood 2005, 121). Telemachus’ grievance towards his mother due to her treatment of the suitors has grown into a complete lack of respect for her. He does not respect her rule of Ithaca throughout his life, despite her improving of Odysseus’ states in his absence –before the arrival of the suitors. Instead, Telemachus focuses on Ithaca’s hereditary monarchical system, leading him to see the position of ruler as rightfully his, due to his gender. This line of thinking is fully developed upon Odysseus’ return to Ithaca. Here, Telemachus scolds his mother for not welcoming Odysseus (who’s disguised as astranger) with enough hospitality. Penelope describes her son’s behaviour as a result of ‘a rosy little picture in his mind: the two of them siding against me, grown men together’ (Atwood 2005, 170). Telemachus’ lack of respect for his mother can be seen again, with his assumption that his father will hold a similar view on the matter, as he’s also a man. This characterisation of Telemachus symbolises how society instils misogyny in young men, leading them to believe that women with authority ‘[deny] men the opportunities to assert their “natural biological masculinity.”’ (Perliger, Stevens and Leidig 2023). Telemachus exemplifies this, viewing hismother’s rule of Ithaca as denying him the opportunity to assume his rightful position as the male heir.
Atwood uses the character of Telemachus’ growing disdain towards his mother as an allegory
for the wider disdain misogynistic societies cause young men to hold towards women in
positions of power. Her focus is particularly on societies where subversive thoughts and biases
(rather than more distinctly exclusionary systems such as hereditary monarchy) enable men to
assume positions of authority over women. This pattern can be seen in modern day countries
such as the US, where - as of June 30th, 2025 - only 55 women led Fortune 500 companies,
despite there being no overt systems in place preventing women from becoming CEOs (Women Business Collaborative 2025). Despite women performing better academically, the disparity persists. Kim Elsesser argues bias is still present in the workplace, resulting in men being more likely to earn promotions and less expected to take on childcare duties that might interrupt their careers (Elsesser 2015). This phenomenon is only further magnified in more senior roles. Consequently, Atwood’s presentation of Telemachus’ disparagement of his mother’s achievements and authority reflect a wider lack of female recognition present in modern society, preventing women from achieving and retaining positions of authority within the workplace.
Atwood also explores the effects of a patriarchal society on inter-female relationships through Penelope and her cousin Helen. They view each other as competition, even in death, revealing how seeking male validation can pit women against one another and lead them to focus on each other’s appearances and sexual behaviours. Helen uses her desirability in order to achieve her goals, and she directly compares her beauty to Penelope’s. This leads Penelope to become resentful of her cousin, viewing her as frivolous for the amount of effort she puts into her appearance and for acting in a more promiscuous manner. Their relationship is first seen after their deaths, where Penelope reveals her resentment towards Helen, stating how ‘it didn’t seem fair - I wasn’t known for doing anything notorious, especially of a sexual nature, and she was nothing if not infamous’ (Atwood 2005, 20). This reveals the misogynistic thoughts that even Penelope harbors, as she views Helen’s open sexual actions as shameful and immoral. Penelope’s harsh view of Helen is later revealed to originate from her jealousy towards Helen. She directly addresses the reader, asking: ‘If you were a magician [...] would you want to conjure up a plain but smart wife who’d been good at weaving and had never transgressed, instead of a woman who’d driven hundreds of men mad with lust and had caused a great city to go up in flames? Neither would I’ (Atwood 2005, 21). This demonstrates the inferiority Penelope experiences in comparison to Helen due the disparity in their appearances and their consequent reputations.
Despite her previous shaming of Helen, Penelope still desires her cousin’s beauty, and is envious of the great war it caused. This reveals the contradictions that internalised misogynycan cause, as she struggles to reconcile her envy of Helen with her negative judgments of her cousin — both feelings resulting from the male attention Helen receives. Atwood develops this, later portraying Helen as greatly ambitious, in her desire to ‘make a name for herself’ due to her ‘selfishness’ and ‘deranged lust’, which brought ‘sufferings and sorrows’ to many (Atwood 2005, 76). Penelope’s disapproval of Helen’s desire for recognition again reveals a mindset prevalent in patriarchal societies that prevents women from achieving their goals. Penelope prevents herself from taking decisive actions when ruling, due to her internalised belief that women must be quiet and subtle when attempting to achieve what they desire. This mindset was reinforced by hermother, who previously advised her to ‘flow around’ men, rather than ‘try to oppose them’ directly
(Atwood 2005, 108). As a consequence, she judges her cousin for not adhering to this advice and instead openly using her desirability to her advantage.
Furthermore, Helen’s use of her sexuality in the novella is also a result of the patriarchal society. She must make use of her appearance in order to gain recognition, unlike male heroes who were famed for characteristics such as wiliness and bravery. Moreover, despite being considered the most beautiful woman in all of the ancient world, she still seeks validation by comparing herself with the women around her. Penelope states how Helen had ‘long since satisfied herself that the total [number of men killed in Penelope’s name] was puny compared with the pyramids of corpses laid at her door’ (Atwood 2005, 156). Helen undoubtedly knew her beauty had caused one of the most infamous wars in history, as this conversation takes place in Atwood’s conception of Asphodel (an area of the ancient Greek underworld), where figures are aware of how they continue to be viewed by the living. But despite this knowledge, she still feels a need to compare her beauty with that of her cousin, showing how appearance has little bearing on whether a woman is affected by misogyny and the values it instills in them.
Atwood’s use of a classical setting when discussing these issues is a distinct and purposeful
choice. It suggests that the oppression of women has been present in both overt and subtle
forms throughout time. Atwood deliberately makes use of the temporal distance of a classical
background to more easily facilitate reflection in her readership. This allows them to consider
the implications of the novella for their own lives in a more dispassionate manner, helping
reduce the effect of preconceptions. Books such as Atwood’s The Penelopiad, which aim to
provide readers with a space to consider increasingly contentious issues such as women’s
rights, are becoming yet more significant in the role they can provide in these discussions.
Bibliography
Atwood, Margaret. 2005. The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus. Edinburgh: Canongate.
Elsesser, Kim. 2015. Sex and the Office: Women, Men, and the Sex Partition That’s Dividing the Workplace. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Perliger, Arie, Catherine Stevens, and Eviane Leidig. 2023. Mapping the Ideological Landscape
of Extreme Misogyny. The Hague: International Centre for Counter-Terrorism.
Women Business Collaborative. 2025. “Women CEO Report: Women CEOs in America 2025.”
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