Odysseus and Telemachus Snuff the Maids: a very interesting word to use here. Snuff, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary, is the action of extinguishing a candle or a flame, almost like the maids were stamped out, like a dying meaningless flicker of life, and it sets us up well for the power dynamic that is to come.
Here we can see an excerpt the chapter, analysed through the lens of Storytelling, Truth and Voice. Atwood explores the different interpretations of truth in this passage, an exchange between Penelope and Eurycleia, “who could not disguise her gloating pleasure” at the killing of the maids and the suitors. Penelope uses harsh language to describe the scene, words such as “hacked”, “genitals” and “agonising screams” while describing Melanthius as a “poor man” that was thrown to the dogs. This builds a sympathetic view towards the suitors that otherwise were so hated throughout the novel. But why does Atwood want us to feel sympathetic towards these barbaric men?
I believe this is where the underlying theme of a lack of voice and agency comes through, one which is heavily endorsed by this chapter, showing Penelope’s lack of agency leaving her in the shambles. “I bit my tongue. It’s a wonder I had any tongue left, so frequently had I bitten it over the years.” Atwood wants the audience to understand that within the novel, voice and agency is only given to those born with it: men of high status like Telemachus or Odysseus. Melanthius is at their whim, Penelope is at their command, and the maids die at their hands, whenever they choose. Odysseus is allowed to come in and impose himself upon everything in Penelope’s life, killing all the suitors and brutally torturing the maids, because he has decided that “they were notorious whores.”
Even so, Penelope blames herself, stating that “I hadn’t told her of my scheme” and this lack of ability to express herself results in pain for others, showing that despite it being her choice not to talk, she is inherently limited by her lower status as a women within the novel. She so willingly hands her fortune over to the man in her life, not valuing her own agency or what she has built up, but rather only the validation of Odysseus, further shown by how dismissive she is of the maids death, because Odysseus can do whatever he likes! “What could I do? Lamentation wouldn’t bring my lovely girls back to life”. “Dead is dead”. Yet she still values herself in relation to him, saying she’ll have to mourn the girls in secret, “or Odysseus will suspect me as well”. Evidently this chapter heavily endorses the lack of agency given to women and people of lower class at the time, Penelope left helpless.
The chapter also endorses and challenges the idea that those with power, those with voice, get to tell their story which then becomes the truth. The two different interpretations of the truth are very clear in this extract: Eurycleia believes in the “impertinent” girls, “the ones who’d been rude. The ones who used to thumb their noses at me”. Eurycleia very well believes this to be true, not told otherwise by a voiceless Penelope. So when Odysseus sees this “truth”, or rather this story that Penelope has so cleverly manufactured, he takes it at face value and has the agency to do whatever he likes with it. So not only does Penelope have the power to turn her own stories into a reality, but a lot of the time counterintuitively, as her lack of voice still means she is powerless in other aspects. Overall, this idea that the wealthy can write their own story is challenged, because though Penelope has status, she is still in the shadow of the men in her life, but this idea that gender and birthright can allow you to decide what is true is heavily endorsed by Atwood throughout the extract.
Ultimately, Atwood presents this passage as a commentary on voice and storytelling, and how status and power influences agency throughout the wider novel. Many characters are directly compared and contrasted, making the Penelopiad a profound demonstration of relationships and power dynamics in the real world, not only seeping into every corner of the novel but also reflecting our biases, privilege and viewpoints in the world around us.