Revisiting Myth in the Sphere of Gendered Objectification: An Analysis of the Poem “Helen of Troy does Countertop Dancing” by Margaret Atwood

ABSTRACT Poetry is a literary form where the poet expresses himself or herself through the representations they have carved. It defines a literary expression where the beliefs and perceptions get represented using mythical aspects to enhance cultural meanings. Margaret Atwood is well-known for using mythical female characters in her poems by placing them in the contemporary sphere. As Guerin once remarked, a tribe or a country might come together through mythology to engage in shared psychological and spiritual pursuits. The female characters which Atwood brings into her poems are metaphors representing the socio-political and cultural state of the modern era in which females are placed now in the present times. In her poem, “Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing,” Atwood brings in the historical figure of the famous Helen of Troy, who is well known in the literary domain for her beauty which formed the basis for the Trojan War. The paper argues how the aspect of revisiting myth in the poem trounces objectification by using the notion of female resistance.


Introduction to myth criticism
Myth criticism is an interpretative approach often considered a mode of thought. Myth is traditional to some extent. It speaks of events related to specific religious stories and customs. It is entirely in contrast to the iconoclastic customs and the iconoclastic objects. The word myth comes from the Greek mythos, a story or a fable. Myths have been a part of human culture for all these years. The characters are presented in such a manner that their presence defines the elementary reason for human existence ranging from physical, emotional, and practical aspects. These stories were adapted and retold by people from generation to generation for the sole factor of human existence.
The analogy given by Joseph Campbell in The Masks of God is probably the first "instructive introduction to the mythological approach to literature" (Campbell, 1959) since it speaks of the relationship established between the literary piece of art and human nature, which is precisely what myth criticism deals with. In his work, Metaphor and Reality, Philip Wheelwright speaks of mythical symbols. He says symbols are "those which carry the same or very similar meanings for a large portion, if not all, of mankind" (Wheelwright, 1962). Several theorists believe that the early tragedies were written to be performed during the annual religious ceremonies where the ancient Greeks celebrated the "deaths of the winter-kings and the rebirths of the gods of spring." The myths explain and understand the events that happened in people's everyday lives to induce moral and social order into society and to ensure human control and stability.
Ernst Cassirer, in his work Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, proposed that "myth is a form of thought." He explains further that myth is a "symbolic form" similar to language. It is a means of creation and response. Carl Jung remarked that myths are "expressions of the collective unconscious." His theory mutatis mutandis was appropriated equally by both myth and archetypal critics.

Revisiting of the myths in contemporary literary works
For contemporary readers, the element of myth and its retellings are pretty standard. The common myths are revisited, where literary works are written based on the established myths like vampires, centaurs, witches or in some other cases, there is a practice of "resurrecting mythology," where the literary pieces are written based on the myths of a dead religion or on any customary or religious practices which no longer exist. Also, there is a situation of "reconstructing mythology," wherein an established myth is rewritten or questioned for establishing noble ideals of equality or democracy.
While writing a work where an author retells the myth, he or she expects to respect the sentiments of the original one. These resurrections of the mythical concepts are not merely confined to books but also extend to movies. Philip Pullman, in his trilogy His Dark Materials, revisits Christian mythology. As remarked by A Balaji, "In the series, the last book, The Amber Spyglass, describes the rival portrayal of Adam-Eve, Satan's dialogue" (Balaji, 2016).
One of the notable contributions made in this sphere is by the Indian author Amish Tripathi, who, in his, The Shiva Trilogy, revisits several Indian myths. He gives a whole new dimension to the Indian mythical concepts by stating that all Gods were humans, to begin with, and were elevated to the godly pedestal because of their deeds in human life. Also, the retellings of Western mythology are quite common, wherein the western authors bring in the mythical characters to speak about specific aspects which they wish to emphasize. The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan is an attempt to retell the Greek myths to focus on the point of the fate of humanity.
Margaret Eleanor Atwood, a Canadian poet, writer, essayist, literary critic, educator, and activist, was born on November 18 1939. Gender and identity, religion and myth, the power of language, climate change, and "power politics" are among the themes of Atwood's writing. Her poetry usually incorporates elements from mythologies and fairy tales. Margaret Atwood, in her poetry collection Morning in the Burned House, offers several poems wherein she has taken up mythical female characters to portray her points of view. These characters are "the metaphors of the social condition of contemporary women." As remarked by Ana Paula Raspini Vieira, Using mythological female figures, both well-known and less famous ones, Atwood foregrounds and highlights the paradoxical nature of female myths, both as holders of power and as common submissive women. (Vieira, 2014) Often when we look into the literary works from the beginning, there is a change in how the female characters were depicted. Earlier, the characters were framed and molded depending on how the males wanted them to be. This pattern changed when the same characters in the later stages were structured depending on how the female authors wanted the female gender to be or based on how the females perceived themselves to be. In her book Feminism and Poetry, Jan Montefiore explains why revisionist mythmaking is "attractive" for poets: Certainly, it is the awareness, derived from the insights of psychoanalysis and anthropology, of myths as representing and defining human consciousness, that has made it so attractive to poets; it is no accident that the revival of myth in poetry post-dates the appearance of The Interpretation of Dreams and The Golden Bough. But what defines a myth as such is not only its status as a repository of meaning but something simpler if more recalcitrant: it is a narrative (oh dear yes, a myth tells a story). (Montefiore, 1987) While deconstructing an already established myth, a female poet tries to include herself and the rest by focusing more on the female gender, their emotions, language, and experiences previously excluded from the early literary canons. Therefore, the myths which are reconstructed by the female poets are a form of representationa representation of what the females find "divine and demonic" among them.
A representation of what the women's community, on the whole, has "historically" suffered. Atwood, in her workbook Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature, speaks of myths being re-visioned but from a cultural and national perspective: Even the things we look at demand our participation, and our commitment: if this participation and commitment are given, what can result is a 'jailbreak,' an escape from our old habits of looking at things, and a 'recreation,' a new way of seeing, experiencing and imaging-or imagining-which we have helped to shape. (Atwood, 1972)

Helen from the Atwoodian lens
In her poem "Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing," Atwood attempts to place Helen's character in the contemporary sphere. The poem's title is quite apt as the readers can spot Helen at a strip club, dancing on the counter. It is not very respectful how the character of Helen is portrayed as it is very much diverting from the mythical moldings. This poem is among the others published in her collection Morning in the Burned House, published in 1995. By retelling the myth, Atwood brings in the subject of female torture. She employs a narrative technique throughout.
As per Greek mythology, there are multiple legends regarding the birth of Helen. Atwood, in the poem, has chosen the story of her being the daughter of Zeus and Leda. In Greek mythology, Zeus disguised himself as a swan and raped the Spartan Queen Leda, also called Nemesis. Leda later produced an egg from which Helen was born. There are various instances in the poem from which the very same is visible, "but I come from the province of gods" (58); 'my mother was raped by a holy swan. '(62); 'in my blazing swan egg of light. '(80).
Helen was married off to Menelaus. She later fell in love with Prince Paris and eloped with him, which became the sole reason for the greatest war of all time, the Trojan War. Mythology defines Helen as "shiny" with a seductive beauty that triggers a sense of male obsession. There is a deconstruction of this mythical image wherein Atwood represents Helen as the collective voice of the women, who were objectified, suppressed, and exploited by solid patriarchal notions. Throughout the poem, one can notice the element of female resistance. The irony came when the woman tagged as one of the most beautiful women in the world was branded with the image of a prostitute.
The objectification cycle begins in the opening verse of "Helen of Troy Does Counter Dancing." The only thing seen in Helen of Troy's position is her body. The first verse is important because it establishes that Helen is not merely a potential victim; instead, she chooses to work in this field. The poet depicts Helen as an object of lust. The poem's central theme is women scorning other women for asking them to handle the job's pitfalls. The poem also reflects the notion that bar dancers lack respect and self-esteem.
She must work in a career that men will not undertake to make as much money as men in our world. The poet comments on the disparity in pay between men and women. She sells her figure as something desirable to look at but impossible to get. She trades dances, and her customers purchase unfulfilled dreams that are offered to tempt them.
Helen gets recognized as "both a pawn and a treasure," and she disdains those who look up to her. This part of the poem clearly illustrates the cyclical nature of objectification. Love is sold in small amounts. The men observe how people demonize their feelings of love, desire, and attraction. It is unnerving because they asked for it and got it, yet getting it goes against everything they have been taught. Men know that when desire is traded, even idealism loses to materialism. They despise her because they despise themselves for admiring what she stands for. Their contempt for her is merely a reflection of their contempt for themselves. She knows their plans to capture, govern, and enslave her. She thus employs her body as a weapon.

Lyrical devices used by the poet
Helen's dance performance took place in a conspicuous environment, as Atwood describes with a simile. Following that, the atmosphere is clammy and muggy: The music smells like foxes, . . . humid as August, hazy and languorous as a looted city the day after (Atwood, 1995, 39-45) To convey the depressing atmosphere, Atwood also utilizes the illustration of a barren, depressing town where people are rummaging among trash: as a looted city the day after, when all the rape's been done . . . . and there's only bleak exhaustion. (43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48) She sees the males as slobbering hounds, while they see her as something to be consumed. She references Zeus in Greek mythology when she speaks of a holy swan raping her mother. The looks of men on her make Helen want to impose her control on them by triggering annihilation. In the second verse, her occupation equates to the wreckage left behind by political conflict. Like Helen's mythological existence Helen in the poem is in a dominating role concerning sex, objectification, and power. The third stanza of the poem scrutinizes Helen's egocentric behavior. After deliberating a widereaching catastrophe, Helen brings the tête-à-tête back to herself. She is more of an object to men than a person. The males disregard her because they are disinclined to face the veracity of their desire. The men in Helen's life have made her feel more significant while entirely disregarding her thoughts and sentiments. Instead of rescinding her self-esteem, the tactic allows her to flourish even if her conviction and regard for males decline. Toward the end, she unequivocally concedes, assuming fabricated uprightness to hide her actual personality, exposing her deviousness. The poem concludes with four lines which give the readers their first sense of the genuineness of her words and the emotion she feels. She utilizes her unhappiness to fuel her fire and take control of her life. Helen lives in a perpetual state of distrust and feels she can ruin anybody who contravenes her. The only emotion she can publicly express is her fury. Every male she has ever met has repeatedly abused and objectified her. "Helen of Troy Does Counter Dancing" is a powerful poem about the dangers of objectification and how it can both build and destroy a person. Atwood utilizes the mythical protagonist Helen of Troy to validate that objectification -a sort of control that can function both ways and even harden its target in harmful ways.
Even the men who seek pleasure continue to catalog them as tainted beings, as they consider this a besmirched profession per societal criteria. Atwood portrays Helen as a product of desire and a mere helpless object. There is a severe dichotomy of power that we see in the poem. At times we see Helen holding power in her hand, and at times she is seen losing the same. There is an essence of female resistance. Her work is a battle against the subjugation to which she gets subjected. This "degraded job" is the one that she uses to gain control over her life . . . 'Exploited they'd say . . . but I've a choice of how, and I'll take the money (17)(18)(19).
Helen here uses her job in the strip club to build her distinctiveness. She takes responsibility for herself. To all the men who follow her around, she addresses them as her "beery worshippers." From the mythological lens, the men admired Helen, the synonym for beauty. Rather than spiritual worship, a considerable sense of desire was associated with every gaze the men gave her. So, she was just a sexual object to satisfy the lust of many as to how Atwood thinks. One of the best comparisons is between the Atwoodian Helen and Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath. The poem Lady Lazarus ends with the lines, Out of the ash I rise with my red hair And I eat men like air (Plath, 1999, 6-9) while the lines of the poem "Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing" goes as such, Look -my feet don't hit the marble! Like breath or a balloon, I'm rising, I hover six inches in the air in my blazing swan egg of light. (Atwood, 1995) In both works, as the poem ends, we see how the two characters rise from their degraded status, both bold and empowered. Helen makes a self-affirmation, where she speaks against society which has become quite judgmental. Helen's presence in Atwood's works extends to the other works as well, including The Penelopiad and The Robber Bride. In the latter, the character of Zenia is described as "glamorous and mysterious" as Helen. Mihoko Suzuki, one of the famous critics whose studies focus on the mythical figure of Helen, speaks about how she thinks that being a female, Helen and her beauty, in particular, was tagged as the sole reason which initiated the greatest war -Trojan War. The blame never stopped with Helen. The men of the society went on to extend their blame onto all the others who were her descendants. Suzuki further remarks: While Zenia remained a phantom-like figure throughout The Robber Bride, represented only through the subjectivities of the three protagonists, in this poem, Atwood imagines how a contemporary Helen might talk back to those who have constructed her as a projection of their fantasies (qtd. in Vieira, 2014) In the poem, we see Helen questioning her "beery worshippers" who judge her endlessly. She asks them why they doubt her potential even when they give her a godly pedestal in the mythical sphere. The very element of her dancing on the countertop makes the people view her as a figure of disgrace. She is portrayed as a trickster in the poem who often confuses her readers with her narration. Therefore, many critics have called the poem's narration a "trickster narration."VanSpanckeren affirms that "Atwood's poems introduce pop culture stars of burlesque artists voicing psychic truths in comic deadpan" (Spanckeren and Kathryn, 2003). One of the most exciting concepts brought into Atwood's works is that of the cyborgs. To bring out her notions, Sarah Haraway, in the chapter she published titled "A Manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism" in the 1980s, uses the cybernetic organism-cyborgs: The cyborg does not dream of community on the model of the organic family, this time without the oedipal project. The cyborg would not recognize the Garden of Eden; it is not made of mud and cannot dream of returning to dust. (Haraway, 1990) Then she concludes that cyborgs are an excellent representation of the female gender. Cyborgs are partly human and part machine. It shows how the patriarchy decides for women. They make decisions on how women are supposed to be, how they should speak, walk, dress up, and much more. There are several expectations expected from women. Even a minor deviation from the expected normalcy pushes them into the periphery. Haraway adds, "we did not originally choose to be cyborgs" (Haraway, 1990). It shows how the rediscovery of the female identity is of primary importance in today's society. The women and their seclusion are something decided by men themselves. It is not something that the female gender chooses. "The cyborg is a kind of disassembled and reassembled, postmodern collective and personal self. This is the self feminists must code" (Haraway, 1990). This mythical character of a cyborg is associated with the trickster persona. The association of cyborgs with the female gender is the element of bestiality introduced. She associated the same with the institution of marriage. The objectification of the female gender is quite prevalent in the novel. The line "naked as a meat sandwich" (11) is the very example of the same. Just like how power, sex, and beauty intertwined in the fate of Helen, the very same factors act to decide the fate of several women living in the contemporary age.
One of the common differences people should be aware of is the one between sex and gender. The anatomical or bodily difference is what people confuse with the social roles assigned in society. The former is what defines sex, and the latter is what defines gender. The body is something that does not confine its existence to the biological sphere. It extends its presence to both the social and cultural spheres.
Around three different perspectives formulate the objectification carried around in society. The first is how the females mold from a man's perspective, how they are characterized based on the perceptions of other females, and how the females see themselves. Women are sexualized every day by sexually objectifying gazes, (Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997). Women are then made aware of society's message that their entire worth is determined by the profit or pleasure their bodies provide to others. Self-objectification happens when women internalize the message that they must perceive themselves as sexual objects. When asked about the same, the majority of the questions dealt with the notion of self-objectification, where the females objectify themselves based on the perceptions and attributes set up by society. Mythological Helen was never allowed a voice, but Atwood has examined the impact of repeated exposure to this kind of attention on a young lady, turning her into a more dishonest individual. In Atwood's poem, Helen recognizes her supremacy over men and decides to take advantage of their frailty. Helen, who is counter-dancing, assumes charge by objectifying herself first since she knows that no matter what she does, she will be reified. Margaret Atwood reverses the roles of object and beholder for one of the most objectified women.
A minor survey was conducted with 35 people aged 20 to 28 and incorporated both genders. The background of the population includes the ones who are still pursuing their education and the ones employed in the corporate sphere. This age group was explicitly selected since they are the upcoming generation. The survey aimed to understand their level of understanding regarding the objectification of women in society, one of the prominent issues of modern society. The corporate and educational field was selected because this survey aims to understand the level of understanding regarding this issue, requiring thorough attention of those who still choose to neglect the same, thinking it is not an issue of concern.
Males alone cannot be blamed for objectification. One of the common allegations is against the male gaze, but it alone is not a factor in deciding it. We have the female community, who are frequently seen judging and commenting on each other based on what the norms set by society are, thus curbing each other from their freedom. Upon collecting the data, the following results were obtained: Of the 35 respondents, 65.7% felt that females are not objectified by the male gaze alone.
The following graph further reiterates that fellow females are equally responsible for degrading women in myriad ways.
This irony gives the elementary tone that Atwood employs in the poem. She speaks of females being antagonistic to their fellow beings employed at nightclubs or even those who sell their bodies to earn a living rather than respecting the choices an individual makes for themselves. The very same rivalry among women is the most discussed topic Kate Millet speaks of in her work Sexual Politics, the envy each of them has for one another. She remarks: One of the chief effects of class within patriarchy is to set one woman against another, in the past creating a lively antagonism between whore and matron, and in the present between career woman and housewife. One envies the other her 'security' and prestige while the envied yearns beyond the confines of respectability for what she takes to be the other's freedom, adventure, and contact with the great world. Through the multiple advantages of the double standard, the male participates in both worlds, empowered by his superior social and economic resources to play the estranged women against each other as rivals. (Millet, 1970) A woman's bodily appearance is also thoroughly influenced by media platforms. As per the objectification theory by Fredrickson and Roberts, actual interpersonal contacts, interpersonal interactions represented in the media, and the use of a woman's body in advertising as a method of selling a product are all ways in which women are routinely exposed to sexual objectifying messages, as noted above. All three incidents include a circumstance in which a woman is made the object of someone's attention, whether explicitly or implicitly. It clearly shows the active role which the media plays in shaping the perspectives of the image of a female body in both males and females.
The aspect of objectification happens everywhere, starting from home and getting carried on to the sphere of work and even public spaces. The women in society get judged and even subjected to objectification based on their choice of employment.
Objectification of women also has an adverse effect on their psyche. Self-objectifying women prioritize their beauty over everything. She gets highly self-conscious about her body's attractiveness after realizing that society primarily views her for her physique. According to Fredrickson and Roberts (1997), a woman's self-consciousness causes her to try to continually monitor her looks, such as by checking herself in the mirror many times during the day. As she continues to worry about how she appears to others and whether she satisfies society's standards, she develops a sense of body shame and appearance anxiety.
Furthermore, it is hypothesized that the mental effort expended on frequent body monitoring leads to a drop in peak motivational states and decreased awareness of internal physical sensations. This extreme effect on their psyche can even prompt them to take up the measure of self-harm and opium abuse.
The entire study found how objectification works and who, according to the participants, are the major contributors. The results go as follows: Our results were in line with Fredrickson and Roberts' theory: women reported being obsessed with their physical looks more frequently than they did when they had not previously been victims of sexually objectifying behavior. It is significant because these brief increases in self-objectification predicted later increases in women's negative emotions, including shame and humiliation. These gains were modest but dependable and seemed to result from exposure to sexually objectifying behaviors. It is crucial to emphasize that according to our findings, being sexually objectified alone did not cause a rise in negative emotions in women. Sexual objectification's negative impacts occurred when it led to women objectifying themselves. However, more crucially, we have demonstrated that these routine objectifying encounters are not as harmless as they appear. Even when they are undetectable, objectification of women in therapy over time may cause increasingly severe psychosomatic wounds.

Conclusion
Speaking of myths, they are very closely associated with the domain of people's psyche. Psychoanalysis is a sphere closely associated with the archetypal and mythical domains. The experimental version of the psychology study has been extended to the mythical sphere, which Carl Gustav Jung initiated. People have a common belief that myths are fictional tales but based on the in-depth analysis of the same, the critics claim that Myth is fundamental, "the dramatic representation of our most profound instinctual life." Myths perform a joint function as they act as a binding force inducing a sense of unity among people. Myth is a continuous force in human civilization that spans time, linking the past with the present and extending to the future. Writers worldwide use their traditional mythology to address current challenges by trying to rewrite the past in light of the present. Writers worldwide use their traditional mythology to address current challenges by trying to rewrite the past in light of the present. T S Eliot in his famous essay "Tradition and Individual Talent," remarked, "pastness of the past will be present in the future." The use of myths in literature is not new; Homer's Iliad and Odyssey established the trend. Greek mythological figures and themes symbolize cultural ideas, values, biases, and ideologies throughout history. As a result, mythology is eternal and continues to evolve regarding views and implications. Generally speaking, myths are rich in topics and narrative structures. Literary artists have used these topics and genres throughout history. Nietzsche called myths "cultural foundations," which knitted society close. A cultural link was built between the people, which made people see life from a more realistic point of view. They were made to realize that life is beautiful regardless of the sad and dark events they will have to encounter through the course of it.
One of Atwood's most essential aspects focused on in this poem is the concept of female resistance. In her famous essay "The Female Body," she successfully portrayed the female body as how a man views the same. Her goal was to provide a convincing explanation of how the masculine world devalues the female body and how it functions in that environment. Atwood brings in her experiences to collectively represent all women in her society. "Vulgar," "outrageous," and "badly behaved" are some of the words she uses in her essay to bring in the idea of how males perceive the female body to be sinful, a disgrace, something inappropriate. She calls the body "hunting flesh." Furthermore, the female body is what she calls a "hot topic," a topic of controversy. (Atwood, 1990) She even compares the female body to a plastic doll. She remarks, "It only illuminates and works once they plug it in" (Atwood, 1990). The children are entertained by their dolls for a short period. Once they are done with it, they neglect the doll until their interest creeps back. The position of the female gender in the male-dominated society is no different. The men play with their bodies, their psyches, and their emotions. They are the ones who cannot sell but be sold.
When Offred, a character of Atwoodian construction from her The Handmaiden's Tale, got into a complex relationship with a commander, her psyche kept yelling how she was no different from a doll since, throughout the entire relationship, she was fully committed to satisfying her partner. She was reduced to the status of a mere object. She was an "item," as how Atwood called it. She says longing for a female body is no better than longing for cigarettes and alcohol. A woman's relationship with a man is what Atwood considers purely biological. Sexual desire is not something that is limited to men alone. She says sexual satisfaction is what women never get a chance to fulfill. The only time men value women is when they realize they lack something within them, says Atwood.
A patriarchal society is framed based on the ideologies and perceptions of the psyche of men. In this society, they never accept the presence of the subjugation taking place against the females. For Atwood, it is a space where the women are forced to be a part of that space. The exploitation is not confined to their houses but extends to workspaces, fields of education, and more. In her work, "The Second Sex," Simone De Beauvoir gives her views regarding women's disparity in the workspace. She says this is because women consider themselves to be the other while they consider men to be the self. Women are stripped of their identities. Their identity is based on their ability to satisfy the men of society and their capacity to bear children. (Beauvoir, 1997) The poem depicts a capitalist society where men take up the dominant position. We see that strip clubs were an essential part of the culture in which modern society is situated. The very presence of these clubs depended on the male audience, which thoroughly marks the monetary authority they possess in society. Thus comes the role of feminist criticism, which looks for ways to reestablish the authority of females in society. Using archetypes and myths also allows the readers to analyze the poem from a psychoanalytical point of view. Carl Jung spoke about the presence of archetypal images in the collective unconscious. When we look into the myth of Helen of Troy, we see how she was marked as the epitome of beauty. The image of Helen in the poem was an attempt by Atwood to show how it was a common belief for the people that women are assessed depending on their beauty. There are several possible explanations for the poem's usage of the myth of Helen of Troy. The myth declares Helen to be the most stunning woman on the entire globe. Therefore, the adoption of this tale may be a reference to the collective unconscious focus on beauty. The men who observe the speaker dance are simply interested in the pleasure of viewing her body.
The paper finally sheds light on the objectification theory for girls and women based on the observers' perspectives. These perspectives framed the beliefs and opinions of the society, which formulated how women saw themselves in society thus affecting their psyche and resulting in several psychological risks including unipolar depression, sexual dysfunction, and eating disorders.