Articulating the Unspoken: A Critical Examination of Silence in Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls

Abstract

This research delves into The Silence of the Girls, a novel by Pat Barker which brings to light traditionally muted and marginalized voices of women within mythological narratives. Barker redirects the narrative from the celebrated exploits of male heroes in the Trojan War to the personal ordeals of enslaved women, especially Briseis, thus highlighting their trauma and resilience. Through Briseis’s perspective, Barker vividly portrays the trauma, resilience, and healing experienced by captive women. The study further elucidates Barker’s use of intertextuality to bridge historical and contemporary contexts, thereby giving voice to the subjugated women of epic tales. The novel’s feminist reinterpretation introduces a new form of female subjectivity that challenges and deconstructs phallocentric representations, critiquing the patriarchal foundations of traditional storytelling. Barker through her work presents an alternative narrative that exposes the passivity and suffering of women embedded within these long-standing traditions.