Character on the couch: #20 Penelope
Each week we subject one of drama's great characters to psychoanalysis. Today Penelope is played by Celia Meiras. The analyst is Leo Benedictus.
Good afternoon, Penelope. How are you?
I manage to survive.
I see. What are you surviving?
Where do I start? My husband, Odysseus, has been gone for 20 years, I'm not sure where my son is and I've been trying desperately to stop 120 suitors who are living on my island from forcing me to marry them.
Yes, that does sound stressful.
Odysseus was fun, very witty and entertaining. I am sure he will return.
Where did he go?
Well, he was in Troy for the first 10 years, fighting. He should really have been back about two weeks after that.
How did you feel when he didn't come home?
At first I thought that he was late. It wasn't until another month had passed that I began to worry that something was wrong. I do hear rumours about monsters ... and other women.
How do these rumours affect you?
(Sighs.) He's a man. But he's never been one of these men like Paris, who charge around having their heads turned by every pretty face.
How has your son been dealing with it?
It has been quite difficult for him without his father. I need to stay strong to hold us together. As long as I let the suitors eat as much as they like, and have fun with all the other women on the island, then our position is safe.
Mmm. It is common for single mothers to feel under a lot of pressure.
Absolutely. And you always get the blame. I wear sunglasses as often as I can, because if they see that I've been crying, then they know that they can bully me. I held them off for a long time by weaving a shroud for my dead father-in-law, and then unpicking it every night. Unfortunately, one of my maidservants has just given me away. I can never remember her name ...
Perhaps that's why she bears a grudge against you?
I was always very nice to her! She just fell in love with one of the suitors.
So what are you going to do now?
Some days I just want to end it all.
You must call me if you have those feelings.
Thank you, I will. It's been very helpful for me to speak to someone I can trust.
· The Odyssey is at the Lyric Hammersmith, London, until March 25. Box office: 08700 500 511