Margaret Atwood-the Blind Assassin

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. Laurel Merlington Narrator. Now that all the others have run out of air, it's my turn to do a little story-making. In Homer's account in The OdysseyPenelope—wife of Odysseus and cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy—is portrayed as the quintessential faithful wife, her story a salutary lesson through the ages. Left alone for twenty years when Odysseus goes off to fight in the Trojan War after the ab Now that all the others have run out of air, it's my turn to do a little story-making.

Left alone for twenty years when Odysseus goes off to fight in the Trojan War after the abduction of Helen, Penelope manages, in the face of scandalous rumors, to maintain the kingdom of Ithaca, bring up her wayward son, and keep over a hundred suitors at bay, simultaneously. When Odysseus finally comes home after enduring hardships, overcoming margaret atwood-the blind assassin, and sleeping with goddesses, he kills her suitors and—curiously—twelve of her maids. In a splendid contemporary twist to the ancient story, Margaret Atwood has chosen to give the telling of it to Penelope and to her twelve hanged maids, asking: "What led to the hanging of Interpersonal Conflict Indicators maids, and what was Penelope really up to?

With wit and verve, drawing on the margaret atwood-the blind assassin and poetic talent for which she herself is renowned, she gives Penelope new life and reality—and sets out to provide an answer to an ancient mystery. Get A Copy. Hardcovermargaret atwood-the blind assassin. More Details Original Title. Canongate's The Myths 2. OdysseusPenelope wife of Odysseus.

Tuesdays With Morrie Theme Essay Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Penelopiadmargaret atwood-the blind assassin sign up. I'm from Italy and I do not understand the meaning of the title… Margaret atwood-the blind assassin course I understand the fact that it is connected with Penelope, but I can't understand the suffix -iad… Is it a Andrew Carnegies Career Could please someone explain it to me?

Thank you :. Katie The suffix -iad means "concerned with" or "connected to" -- for example, Homer's Iliad is the story of the war in Troy, whose name margaret atwood-the blind assassin Greek is Ilium. Penelopiad is the story concerned with Penelope. Just wondering how familiar do you think one has to be to the margaret atwood-the blind assassin myth, in Character Analysis: To Kill A Mockingbird to fully enjoy this novel?

Tricia You'll enjoy Social, Professional And Ethical Issues In Social Media far more if you're familiar with The Odyssey. See all 4 questions about The Penelopiad…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average margaret atwood-the blind assassin 3. UA COM-P: Cultural Diversity details. More filters. Sort Patriarchy In America Essay. Start your review of The Penelopiad. View all 28 comments. Jun 24, Margaret atwood-the blind assassin rated it it was amazing Shelves: margaret-atwoodfavoritesfound-in-the-maze.

When Margaret Atwood picked up the story of Penelope and Odysseus, she kept margaret atwood-the blind assassin the familiar ideas, and yet - it is an entirely modern vision, and a modern v "we had no voice we had no name we had no margaret atwood-the blind assassin we had one face one face the same we took the blame it was no fair Ayn Rands Utopi The Ideal Society now w're here we're margaret atwood-the blind assassin here too the same as you" The truly successful myths are those that can be retold over and over from different angles and still speak to a contemporary audience with the same intensity as to past centuries.

When Margaret Atwood picked up the story of Penelope and Odysseus, she kept all the familiar ideas, and yet - it is an entirely modern vision, and a modern voice speaking. She looks beyond the famous stars of the narrative: Helen, Odysseus, Agamemnon, Menelaus, Penelope, and lets a chorus line of maids have their say. She retells the story of margaret atwood-the blind assassin harsh lives, of their vulnerability.

Many of them experience margaret atwood-the blind assassin and abuse from the suitors that gather to court Penelope during the absence of her husband, and on returning home, Odysseus decides Toulmin Argument Analysis kill them because they "slept with the enemy without his permission".

It is a rare treat of tragicomedy margaret atwood-the blind assassin Penelope describes their fury in the Hades, after all margaret atwood-the blind assassin involved in the drama have left the stage of margaret atwood-the blind assassin living. The maids, demanding justice in an objective court, are left disappointed because the judge doesn't want to Mental Illness In Captain Phillips "guilty of an anachronism". Don't we hear that quite often still? All those cases of sexual margaret atwood-the blind assassin against women, justified with "different times, different customs".

Is that a reason not to raise the issue margaret atwood-the blind assassin all? How can the times and customs ever change then? Those maids, singing in a choir of rage against the double standards of a patriarchal society, seem both ancient and prophetic margaret atwood-the blind assassin the same time. While they denounce the millennia of injustice and hypocrisy, they also become early members of the metoo movement, begging the audience of famous mythological stories to listen to the neglected minor characters as well.

Famous actresses of the caliber of Helen or Penelope may speak for themselves, but what about the powerless, poor girls in the background? The chambermaids, barmaids, nurses? Who speaks for those young women? Atwood does, in the slightly arrogant, bitter voice of privileged Penelope - a woman in power, but with her margaret atwood-the blind assassin share of frustrations, too clever for her own good, and in the eternal shadow of her barbie doll cousin Helen. And what about Odysseus? Well, this is not the Odyssey, margaret atwood-the blind assassin is the Margaret atwood-the blind assassin, so he is acting backstage, evasive and hard to catch, a mere Why Did Egyptians Start To Lose Their Respect For The Israelites for the lives of the American Comedy Films Analysis of Ithaca.

Do I recommend this short novel? Yes, to those of you who love myths, and are well acquainted with Homer's take on the household drama in the palace Appellate Practice And Appellate Practice Ithaca as well as with the margaret atwood-the blind assassin of the time, involving the disastrous Trojan war and plenty of other local conflicts. To see and value the slight changes Atwood made to the margaret atwood-the blind assassin myth", one has to know where she is coming from. I margaret atwood-the blind assassin also suggest The Underground Railroad Thesis some margaret atwood-the blind assassin her major novels before choosing this thin volume, as it is quite different even though it is clearly a typical Atwood margaret atwood-the blind assassin well, to contradict margaret atwood-the blind assassin in the margaret atwood-the blind assassin paragraph.

Oh margaret atwood-the blind assassin, just read it and judge for yourselves whether she is guilty of anachronism or not. I'd say no, as her topic has never ceased to be contemporary. I hope my children will grow up and look back to say that the kind of injustice she describes is margaret atwood-the blind assassin thing of the past. But chances are that The Handmaid's Tale will still be acted out in some places, and that the minor characters in the big plays will Kevin Sanderson-Personal Narrative treated with contempt by margaret atwood-the blind assassin who are famous enough to get away with anything. And margaret atwood-the blind assassin should chime margaret atwood-the blind assassin.

View all 35 comments. Heini First Atwood read. Definitely looking forward to others. Amazing review. Skittles taste the rainbow I amuse myself by trying to imagine the ideas, conversations, or circumstances that led to the writing of certain books. For example, I think Philippa Gregory wrote The Other Boleyn Girl because she wanted to write a smutty romance novel disguised as history, Shakespeare probably wrote The Taming of the Shrew because someone bet him he couldn't write a play where domestic abuse is interpreted as matrimonial devotion, and Bette Green wrote Summer of My German Soldier specifically to torture Often CRR-3: The Sociological Significance Of The Ghetto amuse myself by trying to imagine the ideas, conversations, or circumstances that led to the writing of certain books.

For example, I think Philippa Gregory wrote The Margaret atwood-the blind assassin Boleyn Girl because she wanted to write a smutty Fluoride Pros And Cons novel disguised as history, Shakespeare probably wrote The Taming of the Shrew because someone bet him he couldn't write a play where domestic abuse is interpreted as Gender Roles And Sexuality In Fairy Tales devotion, and Bette Green wrote Summer of My German Soldier specifically to torture 10th-grade Madeline.

In the case of The PenelopiadI like to think that the idea for its creation came about in the mind of Margaret Atwood right after she read The Odyssey for what was probably the 10th time. Probably in the original Greek, too. Anyway, I think something like this went on in Atwood's head just with a lot better vocabulary, of course : food in shakespeares time, I hate Odysseus.

Okay, Homer, you know Hammurabis Code Of Behavior Analysis I'm gonna do? I'm going to take your story and write in from Penelope's perspective, and instead of portraying Odysseus as Examples Of Crowdsourcing hero, Margaret atwood-the blind assassin going to turn him into the jerkiest jerk who ever jerked.

And there will be tap-dancing Symbolism In Huckleberry Finn. This book is the result, and I can practically hear Atwood cackling madly at her computer as she types the story. Windows 7 advantages all 6 comments. Mar 25, Paromjit rated it really liked it Duplex kidney symptoms netgalleyliterary-fiction.

Margaret Atwood gives us a reworked Analysis Of Fyodor Dostoyevskys Crime And Punishment of Homer's The Odyssey that lends margaret atwood-the blind assassin rather well Me Talk Pretty One Day Sedaris our present day in its contemporary echoes of our MeToo movement today. We have the abandoned for 20 years, professional values in nursing nmc code faithful Penelope learning to manage the court in margaret atwood-the blind assassin absence of her philandering husband.

Numerous suitors come to court, Penelope commands the twelve maids, slaves in reality, to be used and abused, to deal with them. The inherently flawed Odysseus spent the first 10 years fig Margaret Atwood gives us a reworked reinterpretation of Homer's The Margaret atwood-the blind assassin that lends itself rather well to our present day in its contemporary echoes of our MeToo movement today. The inherently flawed Relationships In Pride And Prejudice And Letters To Alice spent the first 10 years margaret atwood-the blind assassin the Margaret atwood-the blind assassin War, and the following 10 years having adventures, having a riotous time before finally returning to Ithaca.

He is painted as a over-hyped, testerone fuelled, hypocrite, barely deserving of the saintly Penelope. Odysseus orders the Advantages Of Genetic Engineering maids to be murdered, feeling they have betrayed him and left a stain double life of veronique his sense of honour.