Helen of Troy is a woman portrayed with many skins over the multitude of years that have passed, since she was first depicted in poem. She is talked about as a harlot, she is talked about as the most beautiful woman alive, she is talked about as man's dying hope, she is talked about as man's lust. Hilda Doolittle's, H. D.'s, poem spoke of Helen as the bane of humanity, while Margaret Atwood's poem spoke of Helen as a woman's mortification. Both speakers, from each poem however, understood the importance of Helen's appearance to get across their point, and how it was necessary to adequately express their opinions to the audience.
The speaker in H. D.'s poem believes Helen is the world's little piece of misfortune. She speaks only of how hated Helen is and nothing of her beauty or of how hundreds of men felt she was worth fighting a war over. The speaker in Helen is bitter with resentment towards Helen, always remembering past enchantments [and past ills. As if her husband was one at war and the only people she had to consult with were other potential widows, she expressed how "Greece revile[d]"" Helen, and if Helen died all of "Greece. [would watch]. unmoved"" (Doolittle). They feel she is an embarrassment to the female half of humanity. In their eyes Helen is setting them back to a time when women were nothing but man's helpmeet, and feel she "should be ashamed of [her]self" for how she is letting herself be portrayed to the men around her, but Helen is in rebellion with their way of life, feeling it is not enough and goes about trying to fulfill herself.
The speaker in H. D.'s poem constantly describes Helen with the color white, even though Greeks were not white at all but had a brownish color to their skin tone. She speaks as if all the color has left the body of Helen, "white ash amid funereal cypresses,"" as if she had already died. In those times people were often cremated instead of buried.
