The Robber Bride (1993) shows striking similarities to Atwood’s earlier novels, Lady Oracle (1976) and Cat’s Eye (1988), the most notable being its preoccupation with the construction of female identity and the radical potential of self-invention. The main characters engage in an ongoing process of role-playing, and identity is presented as unfixed and changeable. The femme fatale of the novel, Zenia, is most interesting in this regard as the self-created myths about Zenia’s origins and personal history come to hold the other characters–Roz, Charis, and Tony–in thrall to her storytelling powers.

The beautiful and powerful villainess of The Robber Bride, Zenia embodies

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Published 24 October 2006

Citation: McWilliams, Ellen. "The Robber Bride". The Literary Encyclopedia. 24 October 2006.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7603, accessed 9 February 2010.]