A Restless Liar: The Penelopiad By Margaret Atwood

A Restless Liar The Penelopiad, written by Margaret Atwood, is a story based on Penelope’s life experiences. Penelope, Queen of Ithaca, provides this information while in Hades, but speaks as if she were from modern times. Most of The Penelopiad is about Penelope’s life; however there is another major story line. The maids that assist Penelope in her everyday work also voice their hardships they are subjected to throughout their lives. The reader gets both Penelope’s and her maid’s points of view on Penelope’s actions in her husbands absence. These points of view differ depending on who the narrator is. The events in the story are based on The Odyssey, written by Homer in 800 B.C. The reader is faced with the choice of who is the most reliable
They were raised to do one thing and that was to be a servant. Their parents either sold them or they were stolen from them because they were poor. They have worked their whole lives and grew up with little opportunity to have fun. “We were told we were dirty. We were dirty. Dirt was our concern, dirt was our business dirt was our specialty, dirt was our fault.” (13) They would always sing and dream about how their lives would be if they lived a life that mirrored Penelope’s. The maids often wished someone came and married them, and some wished for the life of a princess. They were forced to sleep with the visiting noblemen or the sons of their masters. Despite their harsh lives they remained optimistic and made the best of their situation by cracking jokes in their free time. “We laughed together in our attics, in our nights. We snatched what we could.” (14) The maids did not have prepared meals; they ate and drank what ever remained after they cleaned up after their masters. In the end they meet their deaths at the hand of the very person who they had helped raise, Telemachus. “If we had known that, would we have drowned him then?”
It could be said that the maids are lying out of anger at Penelope for allowing their deaths to take place after a lifetime of servitude. Penelope tells the reader throughout the novel that she has remained loyal to Odysseus for his long twenty year absence. It is difficult from this information alone to decide who is lying. The best way to determine which is more reliable would be to look at who would benefit the most from lying. To Penelope reputation is important especially since adultery is punishable by death. She would be literally lying to live if she indeed slept with the suitors. If word would have spread that Odysseus returned home to an unfaithful wife his name would be a constant source of gossip among the people. Odysseus would have to kill his wife in order to return his name to proper standing. The maids do not gain or loose anything by lying about Penelope’s actions. They are the eyes and ears of the palace. “Afterwards, the maids would tell me what pleasantries the Suitors were exchanging behind my back. They were positioned to eavesdrop, as they were forced to help serve the meat and drink.” (105) When Odysseus returns home from his twenty year absence he slaughters the suitors for imposing on his wife and house. He tasks the maids with the job of riding his palace of the suitor’s blood and bodies.