Deconstructing Gender Identities through Rewriting Myths in Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad

Abstract

Myths have been irrefutable source in both expressing and shaping the lives of individuals and the working mechanism of societies. Many thinkers, writers and scholars have attempted to question and deconstruct these myths to uncover the ideology beneath or behind them. Margaret Atwood is among those who have not only used and decontextualized myths in their novels, but also attempted to find alternatives by subverting and deconstructing previous myths. The present study aims at exploring a contemporary literary work untitled The Penelopiad (2005) written by the Canadian Margaret Atwood to lay bare her attempts to rewrite male-oriented myths so as to subvert gender identities. The dissertation highlights the alternative devices used in such process. By rewriting these myths, the author not only correct the false stability of gender identities, but also paves the way for the creation of new myth which would celebrate female identity and freedom.