Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing

Poem: "Helen of Troy does Counter-top Dancing" by Margaret Atwood
-PowerPoint presentation was created by Aphrodite Demos for MCI
Toronto, ON.

1. By Margaret Atwood
Aphrodite, Evgenia, Gloria, Sathini
PowerPoint created by:
Aphrodite Demos

3. Margaret Atwood was born in 1939in
Ottawa, Ontario.
She is the author of over 15books of poetry
and 4collections of non-fiction.
Among her novels are The Handmaid’s Tale
(1986), winnerof the Los Angeles Times
Book Award
Atwood’s work has been translated into
many languages and publishedin more than
25 countries.
In 1986MsMagazine named her “ Woman
of the Year ”

4. What you should probably know…

5. What do we get from each Stanza?
Most women think
that beauty is not a
trait that should be
used.
How men look
at the
speaker.
Revealing
speaker’s
true
feelings.
1
st
2
nd
3
rd

6. Speaker
The speaker is a very attractive woman who is
aware of her “power” in society due to her
appearance.
She is a stripperwho is justifying herself and
her profession. (“I keep the beat, and dance for
them because they can’t.”, “and I’ll take the
money.”, “Selling gloves, or something. Instead of
what I do sell.”)
She acknowledges that other
people judgeher because of
her actions and her
profession. (“…who’d tell me
I should be ashamed of
myself”, “instead of naked
as a meat sandwich”)

7. But who is this
In GreekMythology, Helen of Troy was the
most beautiful woman of the world. She was
the daughter of Zeus -and thus had blood
from the gods. He rapped Leda (Helen’s
mother). Helen was married to Menelaus
(King of Sparta) upon her father's choice.
Paris —a Greek hero—was offered gifts from
3 goddesses: Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera.
He chose the gift from Aphrodite, which was
-of course-Helen of Troy, the most beautiful
woman of the world. He went to Sparta and
kidnapped her, and brought her back to
Troy. When Menelaus realized that, he sailed
to Troy and began the Trojan War.

8. The titleitself is an
allusion
The speaker in
the poem
identifies herself
as Helen of Troy:
Greek Mythology -
daughter of the
god Zeus,
considered to be
the most
beautiful women
in the world and
was the cause of
the Trojan war.
“…as a looted city the day after,
when all the rape’s been done
already, and the killing,
and the survivors wander around
looking for garbage to eat, and
there’s only a bleak
exhaustion.” Allusionto
the Trojan War
“My mother was
raped by a holy
swan.” Referring
to her father Zeus
who rapped her
mother, Leda

9. ex. “varicose veins”, “nebulous”,
“peddle”, “beery”, “preachers”

10. Similes
❖“naked as ameat sandwich”
❖“Likepreachers, I sell vision,
likeperfume ads, desire
or its facsimile. Likejokes
or war, it’s all in the timing.”
❖“Likebreath or a balloon, I’m
rising”
Comparing awoman’s
body to a sandwich with
just meat. Seen as object;
lust.
Comparing herself to
preachers who “sell vision”.
A woman is just her looks;
physical beauty
Just like a balloon, she
will rise –connecting
to the allusion of Helen
who is half-goddess
Imageriesare also used to support the themes throughout the
poem and further convey the points that the author is trying
to make about objectification, desire and gender inequality

11. Scansion & Prosody
Free verse & with no rhyme scheme(Сlosestrhyme: Shakespearean sonnet)
oThis can indicate that although the speaker is the same type of woman as Helen,
she has more freedom now (society changes?)
We have cacophony
= not a harmonious sound effect, quite harsh
oCan indicate the power of woman and contrast how woman should always sound
sweet and kind.
ex. "but ready to snap at my ankle"
"The speech here is all warty gutturals”

12. Alliteration
Repetition of one or more initial sounds, usually consonants and vowels
at the beginning of each word
Ex. “Varicose veins”
“The world is full of women”
“This, and the pretence that I can't hear them”
Assonance
Repetition of two or more vowel sounds
Ex. “But nothing is more opaque”
“You have tohavetalent”
“I keepthe beat”

13. More poetic devices…
Hyperbole
ex.“Bundled up to the neck,
Instead of naked as a meat
sandwich”
Personification
ex. “the music smells…”
Symbolism
ex. “perfume ads” beautiful
body appearance
“Worshipers” men
“a chain-saw murder” men’s
eyes

14. o"beery worshippers”-men portrayed as
uneducated cavemen-like beings
o"warty gutturals" -aren't saying
anything intelligent
o"seeing the rows of heads, and
upturned eyes, imploring, but ready
to snap at my ankles" -portrayed as
predators stalking their prey
✓Serious
✓Angry with the
men population
& society’s
stereotypes and
expectations of
women.

15. ❖Objectification/ Physical beauty
❖Inequality of gender -examines power
relations between men and women.
❖Presents a capitalistic societywhereby
men seemingly have a dominant position
economically.
❖Desire/ lust/ sexuality of woman
Are the speaker’s
choices and actions
determined by the
societyshe lives in
or by her?

16. Author's message
Beauty is both a gifted
item and a parasite to
women
Beauty is a trait that
can be used and abused
Beauty should be
exploited
It is a powerful element
that can be used to control
and manipulate those
around them, however, it
can also be self damaging