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"I was more than your echo": Feminist Revisioning of the Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in the Poems of H.D. and Margaret Atwood

Manalili, Faith LU (2024) ENGK03 20241
English Studies
Abstract
The ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice has been of interest to readers and writers across the ages. However, Ovid's version and many subsequent retellings have focused on Orpheus' character. H.D.'s poem "Eurydice" and Margaret Atwood's poem "Orpheus (1)" are two of the first revisions of the Orphic myth from Eurydice's perspective. In this essay, I combine Sanders' theory of appropriation, DuPlessis' idea of narrative strategies, and Mulvey's theory of the gaze to examine the effects of shifting the perspective from Orpheus to Eurydice. In addition, I use close reading to identify characterizations and literary archetypes that H.D. and Atwood rewrite and offer comparisons to Ovid's version. I argue that H.D. and Atwood center... (More)
The ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice has been of interest to readers and writers across the ages. However, Ovid's version and many subsequent retellings have focused on Orpheus' character. H.D.'s poem "Eurydice" and Margaret Atwood's poem "Orpheus (1)" are two of the first revisions of the Orphic myth from Eurydice's perspective. In this essay, I combine Sanders' theory of appropriation, DuPlessis' idea of narrative strategies, and Mulvey's theory of the gaze to examine the effects of shifting the perspective from Orpheus to Eurydice. In addition, I use close reading to identify characterizations and literary archetypes that H.D. and Atwood rewrite and offer comparisons to Ovid's version. I argue that H.D. and Atwood center Eurydice, oppose conventions and ideas about men and women present in the classical canon, and thus write against a male literary tradition. (Less)
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author
Manalili, Faith LU
supervisor
organization
course
ENGK03 20241
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Greek mythology, Orpheus, Eurydice, appropriation, feminism, poetry, Atwood, H.D.
language
English
id
9173737
date added to LUP
2024-09-05 08:24:36
date last changed
2025-03-10 07:33:29
@misc{9173737,
  abstract     = {{The ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice has been of interest to readers and writers across the ages. However, Ovid's version and many subsequent retellings have focused on Orpheus' character. H.D.'s poem "Eurydice" and Margaret Atwood's poem "Orpheus (1)" are two of the first revisions of the Orphic myth from Eurydice's perspective. In this essay, I combine Sanders' theory of appropriation, DuPlessis' idea of narrative strategies, and Mulvey's theory of the gaze to examine the effects of shifting the perspective from Orpheus to Eurydice. In addition, I use close reading to identify characterizations and literary archetypes that H.D. and Atwood rewrite and offer comparisons to Ovid's version. I argue that H.D. and Atwood center Eurydice, oppose conventions and ideas about men and women present in the classical canon, and thus write against a male literary tradition.}},
  author       = {{Manalili, Faith}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{"I was more than your echo": Feminist Revisioning of the Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in the Poems of H.D. and Margaret Atwood}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}