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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

mankind. While some people might believe in putting the past behind them, most 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 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. During the maids’ anthropology lecture in The

Penelopiad they 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, and further that they know more about the story than anyone else. Furthermore, their

display of knowledge lends to the fact that the maids no longer fill the stereotypical forms of

castle maids, but instead chose to grow and learn from their deaths and become 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 become strong-

willed and educated women.

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Additionally, the 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 they never let him forget the destruction that he caused,

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.

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

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

trustworthy narrators of the story. During the anthropology lecture, the maids remark to the

readers, "As we approach the 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 stories of

both Odysseus and Penelope are untrustworthy; thus the readers conclude that the maids are

reliable storytellers. 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
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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.

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

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. Thus, 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.