Margaret Atwood, The Robber Bride

Ellen McWilliams (University of Exeter)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.1.2: Canadian Writing and Culture (Anglophone): The Twentieth Century and beyond, 1900-present.
Vol. editors: Sarah Henzi (Simon Fraser University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Glen Nichols (Mount Allison University), Wendy Roy (University of Saskatchewan), Denis Salter (McGill University), Karis Shearer (University of British Columbia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1992

Places

Canada (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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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 but also exploits the patriarchal fantasies more usually associated with male stereotypes. Late in the novel

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1207 words

Citation: McWilliams, Ellen. "The Robber Bride". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 October 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7603, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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