A LOW ART

[Excerpt from The Penelopiad]

by:Margaret Atwood

(Canada)
 AUTHOR’S BACKGROUND

Margaret Atwood was born 1939 in Ottana and

grew up in Northern ontario, Quebec and
Toronto.She received from Victoria College at the
university of Toronto and her master’s degree from
Radcliffe College.

“Men are afraid that

women will laugh at
them.Woman are
afraid”-Margaret
Atwood
Characters

 penelope
 oddyseus
Summary
“ A Low Art” is an excerpt from The Penelopaid by
Margaret Atwood. Penelopaid opens with
Penelope, the first person narrator, quoting herself
saying, “ Now that I’m dead, I know everything.”
Penelope goes on to say that this wish did not come
true, at least not totally. Death, Penelope thinks
despite the knowledge it brings, is not worth the
cost.
 She even says that she would rather not
know some of the things she learned. In
Homer’s “The Odyssey”, Odysseus’ fancy and
heroic adventures and Penelope, being the bad
guy, were highlighted However, “A Low Art”,
through Penelope’s perspective discussed how
Odysseus is in making fools for making people
believe with his versions of events.
 Penelope’s agony and pain was shown by
“A Low Art” with her versions of story keeping a
blind eye to achieve her happy ending. Her little
story making is somehow to clear her side.





Theme:
THE FEMALE VOICE
This is literary piece is focuses in the era of women
 In 19th century that they living is so unfair
that time.
 All women treat like a useless person. So
the story wants to say that we need to be fair. It
say that women and men should be fair to each
other in all matter . And now a days womens
get there rights of being a women. And now a
days men and women is almost fair. For
example woman can be president in our time,
women can work like a men unlike before
women is only for house to clean,to take care
the kids. But now womens have their rights and
law.
Feminism
 But after the main events were over and
things had become less legendary, I realised
how many people were laughing at me behind
my back—how they were jeering’making jokes
about me,jokes both clean and dirty; how they
were turning me into several stories, though
not the kind of stories I’d prefer to hear about
myself.
  Guide question:
1. Why does penelope consider storytelling “a low art”?

2. How dos penelope’s portrayal differ from the traditional prtrayal of

odysseus? What do you think of Odysseus?

3. Based on Penelope’s perspective, how is she different from how the epic
portrays her? What do you think of penelope’s character in the preceding
story?

4. What does she have to say about the “official version” of what happened?
Why does she point this out?

5. Why does she call herself “A stick used to beat other women with” do you
agree with her?

6. Why does penelope say that she “sounds like an owl”when she tries to warn
other women?

7. How much of ancient history do you think is based on fact, and how much on
gossip or exageration?

8. Do you think a story os colored bythe biases of the storyteller?

9.Do you think history is colored by the biases of the historian?

10.Does this story change the way you look at literature and history ? Why or why not ?

Answer:
1.Penelope considered story telling a low art after all her sacrifices jst to keep their marriage work.

2. Penelope is a lot more faithful than her husband. While oddyseus he is a warrior who needs to be
clever enough , he has more virtues such as fidelity to his wife,in ancient time female characters they
tend to hide something and didn’t eassly treated better.

3.Margaret was the author of the story, she turned the male heroic to female heroine since penelope
was not paid attention on the Odyssey,that penelope’s giving a chance to bring out penelope’s voice and
tell her own story. And the character of penelope was that she is speaking those language that true but
she could telling us there story.

4.All she was making was an ideal of blind faithful towards his husband. As penelopes continues she
remain silent because she want happy ending and as many rumors about her it pushes her to do
damaging side.

5.She call her self a stick to beat other women, because she used her situations as the wife of odysseus
to be an influence to other women. She is stick to beat other women because she does not let herself be
ruled by men.

6. Penelope can say that she sounds like an owl when she tries to warn the other women because the
other women never listen to her.

7. For us, the story has somehow side of exaggerating or gossip since the author change the woman
character into lead character where she presented Penelope the heroine side of her on how she let her
take her side.

8. Yes, I think that the story is colored by the biases of the story teller since it clear shows that there is
really biases between men and women. Penelope is the supporting character in the story. She portrayed
a role of being faithful and caring to her husband until she has to give up to one of her suitors to save
her son. Odysseus also cheated to save his people, the situations of Penelope has a bigger issue than
Odysseus.

9. For us, history is somewhat kind of bias because the only historian knows what happen before.

10. As we read, the excerpt and do some research about the original story by Homer and by Margaret
Atwood. We can really say that there is something being changed but there is no changes on how we
see the literature and history because even how Margaret Atwood changed the story still rhe characters
and some events are still there is life lesson we can get but just from the women’s side.