Penelope's Use Of Symbolism In The Odyssey

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Penelope acknowledges that she can be forced to marry one of the suitors, consequently devising a plan to manipulate them. This “instance of trickery” is described by Penelope when she says, “‘...let me finish my weaving before I marry,/ or else my thread will have been spun in vain/ ... shroud I weave for Lord Laertes/ when cold death comes to lay him on his bier’” (2.93-2.101). Penelope’s weaving symbolizes her prolonging of another marriage, demonstrating that her scheming is often successful. She considers herself to still be loyal to Odysseus (her first husband) as stopping her work on the shroud would cause her to marry, which she describes as being “vain.” Nevertheless, by promising marriage after she finishes the shroud, she gives the …show more content…

In addition to making a manipulative compromise with the suitors, she manages to delay her completion of making the shroud, and therefore her marriage even further through secretive plots later described by Antinous as follows, “‘So every day she wove on the great loom/ but every night by torchlight she unwove it;/ and so for three years she deceived the Akhaians’” (2.110-2.112). Even though all this time has passed, Penelope continues to carry out her deceiving plot with the shroud. While she weaves it during the day, it proves that she understands the importance of the suitors seeing her progress as coming closer to the finish will allow her marriage. At night, Penelope’s unweaving of the shroud proves her utter devotion to her husband Odysseus even though he has disappeared and many people believe him to be dead. Everytime she unweaves the shroud, she spends enormous time, energy, and effort on metaphorically turning back time so that she doesn’t have to marry someone besides Odysseus. Penelope would easily be able to live a happy, easy life with one of the suitors; yet, she chooses a much harder path of life with Odysseus, who won’t necessarily come back. Hence, Penelope’s devoted character is portrayed through the symbolism of the shroud she weaves and unweaves for her father-in-law

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