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Caroline Switzer
English 9 - Gardner
December 11, 2018
Strength and Intelligence: The Maids’ Story of Success
The need for retribution and vengeance for a malicious action is a knee-jerk reaction of

all humansmankind. While some people might believe in putting the past behind them,; most will

crave retribution and need for someone take responsibility for the action. In terms of The

Penelopiad, the maids wish for justice for their inhumane deaths brought on by Odysseus’s

cruelty. Although, the maids were inferior to Odysseus in Margaret Atwood’s novel The

Penelopiad, they ultimately achieve justice because they contest their inferiority, never let

Odysseus forget their deaths, and show themselves as reliable narrators. Although the maids are

inferior to Odysseus in Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, the maids ultimately achieve justice

for their inhumane deaths as they get the chance to tell their story instead of being forgotten and

overshadowed by the stories of others.

In The Penelopiad, the maids try to sway the reader to believe their argument by speaking

of their self-proclaimed higher intellect.The maids use their knowledge to contest their inferiority

and ultimately achieve justice. During the maids’ anthropology lecture in The Penelopiad the

maids speakthey speak of the number twelve remarking, “What is it that our number, the number

of maids – the number twelve – suggests to the educated mind? […] oh, it is not coincidental at

all, that there were twelve of us, not eleven and not thirteen, and not the proverbial eight maids a

milking!" (Atwood 163). By emphasizing the number twelve in their limited pages of the book,

exemplifies just how much the maids want the audience to view them as intelligent and

trustworthy, The maids’ emphasis on the grouping of twelve displays that the maids are not as

uneducated as some may thinkand further that they know more about the story than anyone else.
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Furthermore, their display of knowledge lends to the fact that exemplification of the maids’

knowledge displays that the maidsthe maids no longer fill the stereotypical forms of a castle

maids, but instead choose to grow and learn from their deaths and becoome stronger individuals.

Therefore, the maids achieve justice for their murder because they are no longer the inferior and

quiet maids, but instead stand against what they were born into and becomethey are strong-

willed and educated women.

Additionally, the maids constantly remind both Odysseus and Penelope of their deaths

while they are in Asphodelthe constant reminder of the maids’ while in Asphodel forces

Odysseus to recall their deaths even if he wishes to put the events of their deaths in the past..

While compelling the audience about her point of view of events, Penelope speaks of how

Odysseus reacts when he sees the maids in Asphodel, stating, "It’s the maids, he sees them in the

distance, heading our way. They make him nervous. They make him restless. He weeps when he

says it" (Atwood 189). The tremendous effect the presence of the maids has on Odysseus

displays how the maids exact justice for their deaths as because they never let him forget the

destruction that he causedabout them, and force him to feel the guilt of killing them for eternity.

The presence and forcefulness the group of maids holds over Odysseus,, provides them with the

opportunity to hang their deaths over his head forever tormenting him and never giving him

peace. to never let Odysseus forget about their deaths, and therefore achieve justice for their

inhumane deaths.

While the maids do not hold the majority of the pages in The Penelopiad, with the time

they have, have, they from an interesting argument as to why they are the most educated and

trustworthy narrators of the story.they use their intelligence and wit to become known as reliable

narrators. During the anthropology lecture, the maids remark to the readers, "As we approach the
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climax, grim and glory, let us just say: there is another story” (Atwood 147). This simple and

indicative statement puts the mind of the readers into a state of distrust amongst the stories of

both Penelope and Odysseus, and an eagerness for what the maids have to say. By entertaining

another side of the story, readers begin to believe that The invalidation of the stories of both

Odysseus and Penelope’s stories are untrustworthy; thus the readers conclude that the maids are

gains the maids justice because the readers consider them reliable storytellers; thus, making

Odysseus and Penelope seem untrustworthy. Additionally, while telling the audience of their

account of Odysseus’s arrival the maids push guilt onto Penelope as they recount Penelope and

Eurycleia chanting, "Blame it on the maids! Those naughty little jades! Hang them high and

don't ask why – Blame it on the Maids!” (Atwood 151). The transfer of responsibility from

Penelope to the maids sounds like a very plausible occurrence to readers; further deviating the

readers from the side of Penelope. Further, as the readers look for someone to take responsibility/

tell the true story, it is very easy to believe the maids as they have been consistently victimized

throughout the story. Thus, the readers begin to side with the maids as they have sympathy for

them and begin to believe in their story rather than the story of Penelope and Odysseus.which

lets the maids achieve justice because although they are inferior to both Odysseus and Penelope,

the maids are more trustworthy narrators.

Although, the maids achieve justice for their deaths in The Penelopiad, many women do

not have the same opportunity or voice to achieve justice themselves. While the maids have

knowledge and confidence, twelve people working together for a common goal, and ways to

prove Odysseus and Penelope unreliable; many women who try to achieve justice, namely for

rape, have none of these benefits, and end up not getting the justice they deserve. Additionally,

many women who choose to stand up for themselves in matters do not have the confidence to go
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against the defendant, poke holes in their story, and tell the truth. In order for future women to

feel confident and supported in their ability to stand up for themselves in any circumstances;

women must use the actions of the maids as a model.; the world must take the maids’ actions in

The Penelopiad and turn them into real life situations that will allow women to achieve justice.

Furthermore, Atwood uses The Penelopiad to tell the honest story of the lengths women must go

to in order to achieve the justice that they rightfully deserve.

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Works Cited

Atwood, Margaret. The Penelopiad. Great Britain: O. W. Toad Ltd, 2005.