University of Guilan

Faculty of Literature and Humanities

Department of English Language and Literature

Rewriting Myth by Women Writers:

An Intertextual Study of Margaret Atwoods
The Penelopiad

A Thesis
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of
Master of Arts
in
English Literature

By
Samaneh Gholizadeh

Supervisor
Behzad Barekat, Ph.D.

February, 2013
In The Name of God
 Faculty of Literature and Humanities
Department of English Language and Literature

Rewriting Myth by Women Writers:

An Intertextual Study of Margaret Atwoods
The Penelopiad

A Thesis
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of
Master of Arts
in
English Literature

By
Samaneh Gholizadeh

Supervisor
Behzad Barekat, Ph.D.

Advisor
Alireza Farahbakhsh, Ph.D.

February, 2013
To my family for their unconditional love and support.
 Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr.

Behazad Barekat, for his immense support and guidance during the writing of this thesis. His

constant care in overseeing my progress by carefully reading the different revisions of my

thesis, his faith in the outcome of this project, and his invaluable comments and

encouragement along the way has been integral to this thesis. I owe a great deal to his

knowledge, kindness, and insight. It was a great honor to work with him.

I am also more than grateful to my advisor, Dr. Alireza Farahbakhsh, for his guidance

on my thesis and for his continuous support throughout my graduate and postgraduate career.

His helpful remarks and suggestions have undoubtedly left a mark on this thesis. I would also

like to thank the incredible Professors in the Department of English Literature at Guilan

University: Dr. Mansour Hashemi, who remains an inspirational teacher. He was one of the

first who really got me excited about literature, especially by introducing me to invaluable

world of literary theories; and Dr. Farzad Boobani, who fostered my enthusiasm for literature.

Learning from them and with them has been a pleasure.

I would also like to express my gratitude to all the people who have supported me

during writing my thesis; those who were always there to back me up when I needed it. I

would like to thank my dear friend, Mohadeseh Mousazadeh, for keeping my spirit high and

for encouraging me to go on throughout this year. Finally, the last but not least, I am truly

grateful to my family, especially my dear parents, for their love, encouragement, and support.

My special thanks go to my sisters, Neda and Mahasti, who inspire me, comfort me, and are

always there for me.

ii
 Contents

Acknowledgments ....ii
Contents ...iii
Abstract and Key Words...v

1. Chapter One. Introduction

1.1. General Overview..1
1.2. Statement of the Problem..4
1.3. Significance of the Study..5
1.4. Approach and Methodology..6
1.5. Limitation/Delimitation.....7
1.6. Literature Review..8
1.7. Definition of Key Terms..18
1.8. Research Outline..20
2. Chapter Two. Women and the Intertextual Storehouse of Literature
2.1. Introduction.23
2.2. Womens Rewriting and Intertextuality......25
2.3. History of Intertextuality: Kristeva, Bakhtin, and Barthes.28
2.4. General Overview of Gerard Genettes Theory of Intertextuality..36
2.5. Conclusion...41
3. Chapter Three. A Genettian Analysis of the Functional and Structural
Relationships Between The Penelopiad and The Odyssey
3.1. Introduction42
3.2. The Odyssey Revisited44
3.3. Plot Summary of The Penelopiad..............................................................48
3.4. Paratextual Elements in The Penelopiad....51
3.4.1. Title..52
3.4.2. Cover...53
3.4.3. Epigraph......53
3.5. Hypertextual Elements in The Penelopiad.....55

iii
 3.5.1. Summary of Genettes Theory of Hypertextuality.....55
3.5.2. The Penelopiad: A Transformation or Imitation.....................................59
3.5.3. The Penelopiad as Transposition of The Odyssey....63
3.5.3.1.Formal Transposition...68
3.5.3.2.Thematic Transposition...69
3.5.3.2.1. Interfigurality......70
3.5.3.2.2. Transmotivation......74
3.6. Conclusion...........77
4. Chapter Four. Womens Rewriting and Atwoods Subversion of Myth of Woman
4.1. Introduction..79
4.2. Rewriting Myth by Women and the Role of Intertextuality.81
4.2.1. Demythologizing the Myth of Woman: A Barthesian Reading84
4.2.2. The Penelopiad as an Intertextual Space...96
4.2.2.1. A Mosaic of Texts.....100
4.2.2.2. A Carnivalesque Zone...101
4.3. Rewriting Womanhood.. 106
4.3.1. Multiplicity of Womens Experiences....109
4.3.2. A Non-Heroic Utopia .....111
4.4. The Penelopiad: A reinforcement or Subversion of the Canon?.............................117
4.5. Conclusion.......123
5. Chapter Five. Conclusion
5.1.Summary ..125
5.2.Findings and Implications....138
5.3.Suggestions for Further Research.140

Bibliography..142
Appendix .......149

iv
Abstract
Rewriting Myth by Women Writers: An Intertextual Study of Margaret
Atwoods The Penelopiad

Samaneh Gholizadeh

Focusing on the feminist aspects of The Penelopiad, this intertextual study attempts to
explore Margaret Atwoods rewriting of the politics of representation of women in literature,
in general, and Homers The Odyssey, in particular. Employing some of the intertextual
concepts formulated by Gerard Genette, Roland Barthes, and Mikhail Bakhtin, the researcher
attempts to shed a new light on the main mechanisms through which Atwood achieves her
revisionist aims. The study also examines the functional and structural relationships between
The Penelopiad and The Odyssey in order to find out the overall nature and approach of The
Penelopiad towards its pretext. Through formal and thematic transposition, Atwood is found
to bring the text closer to the audience, and to transvalue the biased representation of women.
As a women writer, Atwood demythologizes The Odyssey through giving the female
characters a voice and pre-history, and through portraying women not as a single,
deterministic category, but as individuals with diverse experiences. The Penelopiads
intertextual space, in which a plurality of texts, voices and languages blend and clash,
provides Atwood with the opportunity to disturb the hierarchy of high and low art, and to
dislodge the line between fiction and truth. Moreover, Atwoods use of narrative techniques,
such as the continuous change of points of view, and the use of unreliable narrator reinforces
the texts thematic concern which is the subjective nature and, therefore, unreliability of all
narratives.

Keywords: rewriting, intertextuality, hypertextuality, demythologizing, carnivalesque, genre

transformation, womens voices

v
 Chapter One

Introduction

1.1. General Overview

Generally regarded as Canada's greatest novelist, Margaret Atwood is the author of

numerous renowned works of fiction. Recognized as one of the leading voices among women

writers, Atwood has produced an acclaimed and varied body of works, including poetry,

novels, short stories, essays, and criticism. Margaret Eleanor Atwood was born on November

18, 1939, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She started writing at the age of six, but her professional

writing began at the age of sixteen, when she decided to become a poet. After majoring in

English Literature at Victoria College at the University of Toronto, she earned a masters

degree from Radcliff College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1962. Along with her writing

career, she began teaching in North American universities in 1964 which she continued for

about two or three decades.

Atwood is one of the most honored authors of fiction in recent history. Her works

appeal to both academic and non-academic readers and have been translated into over 30

languages. Atwoods works encompass a variety of genres. Her early poetry collections

include Double Persephone (1961), The Circle Game ( 1964), The Animals in That Country

(1968), in them Atwood ponders human behavior, celebrates the natural world, and

condemns materialism (Margaret Atwood, 2013, para. 2). But Atwood is best known for her

works of fiction beginning with The Edible Woman (1969), a critic of the consumer society

and one of the first fictions dealing with the experiences of a woman who faces psychological

and physical problems under the gaze of her fiance and in her relationship to the world

around herself. This was followed by other novels such as Surfacing (1971), a novel about a

1
woman who returns to her child home after many years and tries to maintain her parents

properties which can be regarded as a metaphor for her quest to preserve her Canadian

identity ; Lady Oracle (1976), a bildungsroman about an overweight heroine who writes

romantic stories and lives in her imagination ;The Handmaids Tale( 1985), one of the most

influential and widely taught novels in North American Colleges, which depicts a disturbing

dystopia in the future dealing with the sexual exploitation of women in a fictional Christian

theocracy . Her other novels include Cats Eye (1988), The Robber Bride (1993), Alias Grace

(1996), The Blind Assassin (2000), which won the Booker Prize, the most prestigious honor

in British letters; Oryx and Crake (2003), The Penelopiad (2005), and The Year of the Flood

(2009).

In terms of thematic concerns, Atwoods writing centers on storytelling as power,

dichotomies between the natural and human worlds, and the victimization of women and

other marginalized groups by oppressive mythologies and societies (Parini, 2003, p. 19).

Most of her works, including The Penelopiad, concern the dangers of ideology and aims at

deconstruction of myths and fairytales. Although she rejects to be labeled as a feminist, some

critics regard her as one of the pioneers of contemporary feminism which condemns

interpretations based on stereotypical assumptions about women.

While Atwoods speculative fictions, such as The Handmaids Tale and The Year of the

Flood, can be read as warnings against the dreadful future of women in a dystopian

theocratic government, and the horrifying future of world as the result of the destructive

effect of pollution on the ozone layer, respectively; her rewritings strive to look back to the

past with a critical eye. Atwoods interest in rewriting can be traced back in her other poems,

short stories, and novels. Many of her works have been inspired by myths and fairy tales. The

Robber Bride transforms the character of Helen into twenty-first century. Similarly, in the

short story Gertrude Talks Back Atwood gives voice to Hamlets mother, one of the most

2
ambiguous characters in literature, and rewrites the famous closet scene in Shakespeares

play.

Robber Bride, Alias Grace and Blind Assassin are three novels that focus on the

theme of storytelling. In all these works, she strives to undermine the notion that there can be

a true story. In Alias Grace (1996) she rewrites a real story about a woman in nineteenth

century who was on trial for the murder of her employer and his lover. It is never clear

whether Grace, the narrator, lies or tells the truth. This parallels the theme of the novel which

deals with the disparity between life and the stories told about it, and the difficulty and almost

impossibility of achieving truth by reliance on the stories. In The Blind Assassin (2000) the

reader is presented with a multiple narratives, which means a narrative with successive nested

story lines. Similarly, the novel centers on the difference between the truth of and the stories

told about the past. Almost all of these works demonstrate Atwoods major concern, which is

exploration of the nature of storytelling and its impact on the human beings perception of

events. For Atwood, storytelling is never innocent; we can never rely on any version of story

to achieve the truth about events.

Atwoods another concern is dealing with the world of women and the relationship,

often of a problematic one, between female characters. This reflects Atwoods suspicion

about the possibility of a feminist sisterhood between women. She states that one of her aims

as a woman writer is to give expression to women characters complexity by portraying their

vices and virtues in a way that is not appalling or demonic: If I create a female character, I

would like to be able to show her having the emotions all human beings have hate, envy,

spite, lust, anger and fear, as well as love, compassion, tolerance and joy without having her

pronounced a monster, a slur or a bad example (1379, p. 33), Atwood writes in her essay

The Curse of Eve. Just like men, Atwood implies, women ought to be portrayed

realistically, with all their vices and virtues.

3
 By putting The Penelopiad in the context of Atwoods literary works, the researcher

highlighted its thematic affinity with other works. In the present study, by taking into account

the thematic and political concerns of Atwoods writings, the most notable features of her

reworking of Homers The Odyssey will be discussed.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

The present thesis will attempt to carry out a feminist reading of Margaret Atwoods

The Penelopiad by employing Gerard Genettes theory of hypertextuality, and with reference

to other intertextual concepts formulated by Barthes and Bakhtin as well as some theories of

readings in the area of rewriting. Womens rewriting, in general, and Atwoods practice, in

particular, raise a number of issues which this thesis will address by posing a series of

questions:

1. What are the functional and structural relationships between Margaret Atwoods The

Penelopiad and Homers The Odyssey?

2. Considering the intertextual nature of rewriting, what is the purpose of Atwoods

rewriting?

3. How does Margaret Atwood achieve her political goals?

4. Which of the intertextual concepts formulated by Genette, Bakhtin, and Barthes are

more prominent in The Penelopiad?

In seeking answer to these questions the researcher will focus on the works of Gerard

Genette, Roland Barthes, and some feminist theoreticians. The main focus of the present

study will be on Genettes model of hypertextuality which is a valuable tool for the

examination of the relationship between a text and its pre-text. Moreover, the researcher tries

to focus on the strategies that Atwood usurps to demythologize the biased representation of

women in Homers The Odyssey. As a result, by using intertextual theory as a framework, the

4
research will concentrate on the strategies through which Atwood achieves her aim in

rewriting the male-dominated canonical text.

1.3. Significance of the Study

Rewriting the canonical texts is a practice which dates back to the ancient times;

however, many modernist and postmodernist writers, especially the women writers, have

turned to this kind of writing with a greater energy and with different approach comparing to

the past. Therefore, rewriting has caused a debate among many critics and even ordinary

readers accustomed to the original texts who find the contemporary zest for rewriting either

strange or excessive. This study makes use of the theory of intertextuality to find the rationale

for the contemporary womens interest in rewriting. Moreover, it seems that Genettes theory

of hypertextuality is an area of study which is not explored as much as his theories of

narrative, especially in Iran. While Genettes theory of hypertextuality provides the

researcher with a systematic tool for the study of the relationships between a text and the

pretext from which it derives, few researches in Iran have adhered to this useful theory in

their studies of the practice of rewriting. Finally, what makes the present study necessary is

that despite Atwoods world-wide recognition as one of the greatest contemporary writers,

her works are almost neglected in English Literature schedule in Iran and few studies have

been conducted on her novels. Therefore, considering her outstanding place in the world of

literature, this absence might be considered as a void which necessitates further exploration

of her literary works.

5
1.4. Approach and Methodology

The main aim of the present thesis is to explore the purpose of Atwoods rewriting_

and the strategies which she employs_ through the lens of intertextual theory. This thesis is a

library-based research which employs Genettes theory of intertextuality (or as he prefers to

label transtextuality) and other intertextual concepts formulated by Barthes and Bakhtin as

well as some theories of readings in the area of rewriting to study Atwoods reworking of one

of the most renowned canonical texts, The Odyssey. Focusing on the intertextual and feminist

aspects of The Penelopiad, this analysis is also concerned with the way Atwood as a woman

writer demythologizes Homers The Odyssey, both structurally and thematically. As such, the

present thesis also uses Roland Barthes theory of myth for unveiling the mythical contents of

literature as the most significant manifestation of cultural representation.

To follow the main topics of the present thesis, the researcher has decided not to

confine the study to Genettes theory; therefore, the study also adheres to a set of principles

in the area of rewriting, gender issues, and mythical retelling to shed light on all aspects of

the present researchs topic. By focusing on The Penelopiad as an instance of rewriting by

women writers, the researcher attempts to explore the relationship of such texts to their pre-

text (s). What matters most in the present study is exploration of the strategies that Atwood

employs to achieves her political aim in re-visioning (rewriting) the historical myths. To

study this aspect, the text is put into the context and the tradition from which it converges and

this is done by reference to Genettes theory of hypertextuality. Moreover, the study

discusses the generic, stylistic, and thematic transformations of, and derivations from the

preceding text. It must be noted that transtextuality is an umbrella term that Genette uses to

study what other critics call intertextuality. For Genette, hypertextuality is merely one of the

five major categories of transtextuality; however, these five categories are closely

interconnected and they often overlap. To put The Penelopiad into the broader context and to

6
shed light on its major themes, the researcher has find it necessary to touch upon another

subcategory of transtextuality, namely paratextuality. This category bring into light the

importance of title, chapter titles, notes, book covers and such intertextual issues on the

interpretation of the literary work.

1.5. Limitation/Delimitation

The delimitations that the researcher imposes on the study are intended to narrow the

scope of the present study to a certain text and a set of principles. As such, this study is

delimited to the study of Margaret Atwoods novel The Penelopiad, which is a reworking of

Odyssey myth. The study of Atwoods reworking of canonical texts in her other novels and

poems are not focused upon in the present study. To set the theoretical borderline of the

study, it must be said that the research is also delimited to a certain approach, which is the

intertextual theory from the perspective of Gerard Genette, Roland Barthes and Mikhail

Bakhtin. However, to follow the topic of the study and to answer the research question the

researcher also makes use of a set of principles in the area of feminist rewriting of mythical

text. Another delimitation of the study is that it concentrates on feminist issues and female

characters, namely on the life of Penelope and her twelve hanged maid. The other

mythological characters are also slightly focused upon only if they have great influence on

the life or our evaluation of these characters, such as Odysseus, Telemachus and

Clytemnestra.

Other evidences that are to be studied include the functional and structural

relationships between the Penelopiad and The Odyssey, intertextual aspects of The

Penelopiad in giving voice to marginalized characters, and finally the characteristics of

Atwoods rewriting by putting it in the context of feminist approaches to canonical texts. As

the study covers numerous aspects of Atwoods rewriting in light of different theoretician in

7
the area of intertextual study, it is better not to focus on mythological/archetypal, postmodern,

and postcolonial aspects of the novel. As such, by myth this study means not only the ancient

myths, but more importantly the biased, stereotypical, and ideological representation of

women in such canonical texts. Therefore, the researcher will make use of the ideas of a

number of theoreticians, such as Roland Barthes and Carl Yung to define and explore the

nature and function of cultural and ideological myths.

1.6. Review of Literature

As the title of this thesis suggests, the major topics are womens practice of rewriting

by focusing specifically on Margaret Atwoods The Penelopiad. The study also explores

theory of intertextuality, as put forward by Gerard Genette, Roland Barthes and Bakhtin,

which provides us with a valuable tool for the study of such practices. The following

literature review aims to provide the study with a survey of published works that pertain to

the present research and an analysis of that works.

As such, the sources used in the thesis explore three areas: first, there are texts about

the theory of intertextuality which include exploration of the history, major theoretician such

as Kristeva, Bakhtin, Barthes and Genette, along with the basic tenets of the theory of

intertextuality to contextualize their theories in the broader field of intertextuality. Second,

for the better understanding of Margaret Atwoods The Penelopiad, the researcher will

employ some critical essays and books devoted to Atwoods studies which shed light on the

texts thematic and stylistic features. Finally, the present study makes use of the books and

essays which are written about womens rewriting and the feminist issues that a reader or

writer faces when dealing with such texts. To consider such points it will be necessary to use

some texts about the way the reader or writer will be able to deconstruct or demythologize the

sexist myths that shape not only the canonical texts, but our sociocultural paradigms in

general. Therefore, the researcher will explain the seminal theoretical works and those works

8
that are directly related to the present thesis. Some of the major sources that constitute the

theoretical base of the thesis will be briefly introduced in the following paragraphs:

The main source used in the present thesis is Genettes book Palimpsests: Literature

in the Second Degree (1982). In this highly influential book, the French literary critic and

historian Grard Genette has put down his model of hypertextuality which is a category in his

theory of intertextuality or as he prefers to call it transtextuality. Genettes theory is an

exploration of what he calls open structuralism. It doesnt regard text as a self-sufficient

entity which merely strives to find the relations within the text; its an exploration of the

relationships between the texts, and the way they reread and rewrite one another. He defines

the structural (relational) and functional relationships between the two texts, and in doing so,

he puts forward his in-depth analysis of different subgenres such as parody, pastiche,

travesty, and other similar subgenres. These explorations are accompanied by fastidious

examples from Proust, Joyce, Thomas Mann, and other writers who have practiced rewriting.

This book will be used for the analysis of The Penelopiad and its relationships to Homers

The Odyssey throughout chapter three of the present research.

Graham Allen (2000), in his book Intertextuality, introduces the origin and history of

intertextuality and explains how the latter is employed in structuralist, post-structuralist,

semiotic, deconstructive, postcolonial, Marxist, feminist, and psychoanalytic theories. The

present thesis will mainly make use of the first three chapters of the book along with the

chapter on feminism. The first chapter of the book starts with Saussures, Bakhtins, and

Kristevas contributions to the theory of intertextuality. In the second chapter, Allen explores

Rolland Barthes key concepts and his influence on the theory of intertextuality. In the third

chapter he introduces the approaches and defines the concept of intertextuality for the

Structuralists such as Riffaterre and Grard Genette. Allen briefly defines some Genettian

terms such as transtextuality, paratextuality, and hypertextuality, but he fails to points out

9
how Genettes approach differs from other Structuralists. Although the book doesnt provide

a comprehensive illumination of Genettes open structuralism, it is a helpful text for the study

of the development and history of intertextuality. This book is frequently referred to in

chapter two, three, and four of the thesis.

Intertextuality is a book edited by Heinrich Plett (1991) that contains important

articles about intertextuality in theory and practice. The book includes three parts:

fundamentals of intertextuality, structures of intertextuality, and historical aspects of

intertextuality. Following, the articles in each section of the above book that will pertain to

the present study will be outlined in three separate paragraphs.

In the first article Intertextualities by Plett himself, the writer defines intertextual

concepts and suggests a method for the study of quotations. Next, he introduces some

evaluative attitudes in the study of intertextuality. Hans-Peter Mais article, which will be

employed in the second section of chapter four of the present thesis, is called Bypassing

Intertextuality: Hermeneutics, Textual practice, Hypertext. It argues that trying to make

Kristevas concept of intertextuality more applicable is in contrast to her original political

intention. He suggests that poststructuralist intertextual approach, which uses the term for

cultural matters in general, and the traditional approach, which employs the term to indicate

finding the interrelations between and in literary texts, cannot be reconciled. Instead, he calls

for a kind of intertextual approach that includes extra-literary discourse and cultural aspects

and avoids being merely intra-literary and intra-linguistic.

The second part of the book includes an article Interfigurality: A Study on the

Interdependence of Literary Figures, in which Wolfgang Muller explores the intertextual

dimensions of the interrelations between characters of different texts. He looks at the figures

as structural and functional elements and calls this method interfigurality. He states that re-

used figures simultaneously follow and deviate from their literary ancestors, and always

10
function differently in the different texts. This article is helpful in analysis of the

transformation of the characters in the third section of chapter three. In the article Titles and

Mottoes as Intertextual Devices, Wolfgang Karrer studies the intertextual nature of titles and

their pragmatic role in paradigm formation. For him, titles are part of the generic conventions

that carry cultural and social codes which reproduce or challenge the literary canon, genre

hierarchy, and social ranking. This article is inspirational in the analysis of paratextual

elements in section two of chapter three.

Finally, in the third part of the book Richard J. Schoeck (1991) in the article In Loco

Intertexantur: Erasmus as Master of Intertextuality deals with centripetal-centrifugal

functioning of intertextuality by claiming that this practice is a comment both on other texts

and on society. This article is used in the second section of chapter four. Manfred Pfister

(1991) starts his article, How Postmodern is Intertextuality?, with discussing different

aspects and definitions of postmodernism and goes on with exploration of the differences

between modernism and postmodernism on the one hand, and the structuralist and

poststructuralist view of intertextuality, on the other hand. He strives to find out whether

there is a specific postmodern intertextuality with specific function and strategies.

Postmodern intertextuality, he claims, uses poststructuralist theory of intertextuality not as a

device, but self-reflexively foregrounds, theorize[s], and thematize[s] it as a central

constitutional principle; it is a metatext or a text about texts and intertextuality (p. 214-215).

This article is drawn upon in the second section of chapter four. And finally, Linda

Hutcheons article The Politics of Postmodern Parody deals with the notion of originality

of parody. She states that postmodern parody is always critical; it foregrounds the politics of

representation: it is a value-problematizing, denaturalizing form of acknowledging the

history of representation (p. 225). Postmodern parody simultaneously confirms and

11
subverts the power of the representation of history (p. 226) by previsioning and rereading

the past. This article will be used in the second and fourth sections of chapter four.

Christina Phillips (2008), in the article An Attempt to Apply Genettes Model of

Hypertextuality to Najib Mahfuzs Malhamat Al Hara, claims that western theories, when

applied to Arabic literature, face with problems. Mahfuz reworks the principles of sira,

Islamic myths, and popular narratives, into a modern contemporary novel. The result is a

style, themes, and genre, different from the preceding text. Phillips asserts that the

intertextual relationship between the texts and the genre transformation cannot be explained

with Genettes theory. Phillips states that Genettes theory of hypertextuality has a twofold

problem when applied to non-European literary works such as Mahfuzs Harafish: first, it

doesnt take into account the genre transformation that happens as a result of reworking of

the traditional sira principles into a contemporary context; second, it doesnt provide us with

an explanation for the kind of intertextuality that exploits the hypotext for its confirmative

properties, such as Mahfuzs duplication (as opposed to transformation) of sira gender

imbalance to corroborate and catalyze themes of patriarchy. (297).This article can be helpful

in stressing that theory must be in the service of interpretation and understanding of the

literary work. The researcher attempts to let the text to question the theory whenever

necessary. Although the article fails to account for an accurate differentiation between

imitation and transposition in Genettes theory, the way she weaves feminist issues with

Genettes model of hypertextuality is inspiring.

The sources that fall into the second area of the present study include the essays,

article and books on Atwood, The Penelopiad, and The Odyssey. Following, some major

sources will be mentioned:

Hilde Staels (2009), in the article The Penelopiad and Weight: Contemporary

Parodic and Burlesque Transformations of Classical Myths, argues that in The Penelopiad,

12