Isolation In The Penelopiad By Margaret Atwood

Isolation occasionally drives a person to insanity and causes them to do things they normally wouldn’t. When everything they know and love is stripped from a person, their true character is reveal. In The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood, Penelope faces this exact scenario when she is left behind in Ithaca as Odysseus leaves to fight in the Trojan war, losing the only person she can trust. In the absence of Odysseus, Penelope’s complex character is revealed. Atwood effectively uses diction, point of view, syntax and tone to characterize Penelope as a skeptical, needy and loyal character. The first person perspective used by Margaret Atwood in The Penelopiad gives us valuable insight of the true motives and feelings of Penelope’s character. In the chapter “Waiting” of the Penelopiad, we get a clear glimpse into how lonely Penelope is in Odysseus’s absence. Penelope tells us that “Despite all the
busyness and responsibility, I felt more alone than ever.” (Atwood, 89). In spite of inheriting a kingdom and with its numerous advisors, maids and attention, Penelope feels more lonely than ever. This loneliness and isolation are entirely self-imposed by Penelope herself. Penelope is skeptical of others, always finding reasons not to trust someone. This has been apparent throughout the entire book but is very evident in the “Waiting” chapter. She finds herself unable to trust her advisors saying, “What wise counsellors did I have? Who could I depend on, really, except myself?” (Atwood, 89). By saying such things, she deliberately isolates herself from the rest of the kingdom. She doesn’t allow other to show their trustworthiness rather she is afraid and refused to trust anyone. Towards the end of the chapter that she struggled to know what to believe anymore referring to stories of Odysseus's adventures, with further shows her inability to trust in others. She says, “It was hard to know what to believe” (Atwood, 91). She couldn't differentiate fact from fiction and occasionally felt that the rumors were fabricated to make her, “eyes fill with tears.” Penelope believes the minstrels took joy out of hurting her and felt like both a target for attacks and a vulnerable individual without Odysseus. The use of the first person prospect gives the audience a clear indication of Penelope has difficulty trusting other people. In addition to her skeptical nature, we also see just how self-conscious and needy Penelope can be. The tone of Penelope is quite passive aggressive at times towards her husband in chapter 7. On the topic of her spouse's possible return she says, “Odysseus returning, and me - with my womanly modesty - revealing to him how well I had done...On his behalf, of course. Always for him. How his face would shine with pleasure! How pleased he would be with me!” (Atwood, 89). There is a clear sarcastic and passive aggressive tone created by Margaret Atwood which implies that Penelope feels that her work while Odysseus was gone will go under-appreciated by Odysseus. This tone is crafted using clever syntactic devices that convey a passive aggressive tone. The use of dashes to stress “womanly modesty” suggesting that she is upset that she cannot brag about her accomplishments to her husband. The use of exclamation points sarcastically highlight how excited she is to see how Odysseus reaction. This tone clearly shows that she is very self-conscious and further emphasizes her feeling of loneliness. Moreover, it further conveys a feeling of distrust she has toward all other characters; not even her husband is immune from this. The way Penelope phrases her words, it is almost as if she feel the praise she receives from her husband is fake. She says that Odysseus would say “‘You’re worth a thousand Helens,’ he would say. Wouldn’t he? And then he’d clasp me tenderly in his arms” (Atwood, 89). Penelope is almost needy in the way she speaks, though it is completely justified. Penelope was tasked with running a kingdom and as she said, “In no way had I been prepared for such task” (Atwood, 85). She longs for attention and credit from her husband, the sole individual in all of ancient Greece she trusts, because she is incredibly self-conscious about herself as evident by her constant remarks of her inferiority to Helen. Despite her passive aggressiveness towards Odysseus, it’s clear that Penelope is still loyal to Odysseus.
Considering the extent of his absence, it reveals to the reader just how loyal Penelope is as a spouse. When she refers to the stories the minstrels tell her about Odysseus’s, she denies since she feels that the minstrels, “took up these themes and embroidered them considerably.” (Atwood, 84). In her mind, “supernatural monsters and beloved of goddesses” are the reasons Odysseus is yet to return. The diction in the passage gives a emphasizes the power of the forces that are keeping her husband from returning home, which highlights the trust she has for her husband; she gives him the benefit of the doubt. She believes that “...only a strong divine power could keep my husband from rushing back…” (Atwood, 84) and not her husband’s own curiosity; she refuses to have that thought cross her mind. She is incredibly loyal to her husband. This loyalty to Odysseus stems from her inability to trust people and from Odysseus being the only person that respects her for who she
is.
The isolation Penelope feels in The Penelopiad is mostly self-imposed. The isolation she faces reveals to the reader that Penelope is skeptical of everyone around her, needy yet loyal to her husband. Margaret Atwood’s use of tone, diction, syntax and point of view helped to develop Penelope’s character in Chapter 7 of The Penelope. The root of many of Penelope’s traits originate from when she was thrown into the sea, leaving her permanently scarred, resulting in her inability to trust anyone other than Odysseus.