The Penelopiad

by

Margaret Atwood

Weaving and Fiber Work

Throughout The Penelopiad, Atwood connects fiber work and Penelope’s weaving with ideas of storytelling and lying. Penelope refers to telling her own narrative using fiber work terms, saying that she will “spin a…

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The Maids’ Deaths

During the chapter entitled “An Anthropology Lecture,” the Twelve Maids give an explicit, symbolic reading of their own death and invite the reader to adopt it. In this reading, details of the Maids’ deaths as…

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Water

In Penelope’s life and narrative, water takes on a special but ambiguous significance. Penelope is the daughter of a Naiad, or a Greek fresh water spirit, a fact that immediately links her to…

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