![]() It would be wrong to say that Barker gives a fully sympathetic depiction of Helen, but the way in which her life is predicated on the decisions of men (and gods) is evident. Unlike works such as Euripides’s The Trojan Women and Hecuba, Helen is not portrayed as universally hated by all the women linked to Troy. To them, women count for so little that they have no national identity. The complexities of identity, and how they are viewed, is made most apparent by the Greek soldiers’ odd ignoring of all the enslaved Trojan women, particularly when considering how many Trojans were in the Greek camp. ![]() She is stuck in an odd position, seen as a Trojan by the Greeks, but not accepted by the enslaved Trojan women. Briseis might be aligned with the Trojans, but her time in the Greek camp has altered her point of view. This difference is primarily due to the use of Briseis as the main narrator. It does not limit itself to the women taken from Troy, and so presents a female focused view of a greater scope than is often seen in plays such as Euripides’s The Trojan Women. In some ways The Silence of the Girls can be read as a feminist retelling of the Trojan War, and heavily draws on the Iliad, whereas The Women of Troy focuses on the immediate repercussions of the war, and does not closely follow any Classical text. ![]() It continues the story of Briseis, and I can see more books in the pipeline, as further ramifications of the Trojan War unfurl. ![]() ![]() Pat Barker’s The Women of Troy is a sequel to her previous book, The Silence of the Girls. ![]()
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