The Famous Painting Of “Penelope and the Suitors”

In the painting “Penelope and the Suitors”, the artist John William Waterhouse uses the example of the suitors trying to get to Penelope and receive her love, but Penelope ignores them to show loyalty to her husband Odysseus who is out at war, while in the poem, “Penelope”, Dorothy Parker uses the same scene to show that Penelope is at their house alone and bored while Odysseus is out at war. She was just ignored all the time. Penelope only had one son and they called him Telemachus.

Penelope never got any credit for taking care of the house. She didn't get any credit for keeping the suitors away either.

The painting of “Penelope and the Suitors” was created in 1912 by John William Waterhouse. The painting shows us Penelope doing her daily routine by knitting away and ignoring the suitors while waiting on Odysseus to return home. The dimensions of “Penelope and the Suitors” original canvas is Overall 51.1” x 74”, which is huge.

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It is displayed in Aberdeen Art Gallery. “The museum is located in Scotland”.

John William Waterhouse was born in Italy in 1849 by English parents moved to Italy to learn the art. Waterhouse assisted his dad in his workshop and that's where he developed his ability of sculpting and painting. Waterhouse went on to paint well over 200 paintings of classical mythology. In 1883, he married Esther Kenworthy. “He and his wife had two children who died in early childhood”. Waterhouse passed away in 1917 and his grave can be found in London.

The poem “Penelope” reflects on the domination over the good things women do for their families”. If a woman does not go to war or build a fence in the backyard, it doesn’t mean she is weak. She still does a lot of work that keeps a home stable. While Odysseus was gone she kept the suitors away by weaving a burial shroud for Laertes and every night she went back and took apart the weave she did that day. This poem just shows that her actions were ignored while Odysseus was at war being called a hero.

Dorothy Parker was an American poet that was born in 1893. She was born in West End, New Jersey. Her mother died when Dorothy was young. She attended a private school called Miss Dana's School for Young Ladies. “Her spouse was Edwin Pond Parker II”. Which she married twice. Sadly, due to a heart attack, Dorothy passed away on June 7, 1967.

The painting and the poem share similarities and differences. An example of similarity is that both the painting and the poem are about Penelope. They are different because when one reads the poem the reader will have to imagine what's happening, but the painting shows you the imagery of what's going on. In the painting Penelope doesn't look happy, she looks sad and maybe even a little depressed. The poem “Penelope” makes Penelope sound sad and upset too.

So as one can see in the painting “Penelope and the Suitors”, the artist John William Waterhouse uses the example of the suitors trying to get to Penelope and receive her love. Penelope ignores them to show loyalty to her husband Odysseus who is out at war. While in the poem, “Penelope”, Dorothy Parker uses the same scene to show that Penelope is at their house alone, bored, and upset while Odysseus is out at war. One can also see Penelope never got any credit for taking care of the house. She didn't get any credit for keeping the suitors away either. She was just ignored all the time.