Little Red‑Cap meets a poetic wolf, follows him into the forest, endures a series of violent and symbolic trials over ten years, kills the wolf, fills his belly with stones, and emerges from the woods alone, carrying flowers.
Thetis repeatedly shapeshifts through a cascade of animal and elemental forms, each encounter marked by violence or confinement, ultimately culminating in a transformative rebirth.
Mrs Midas confronts her husband’s obsessive gold‑induced behavior, serves him a meal that triggers a violent outburst, forces his removal from the home, and reflects on the loss of his once‑passionate touch.
Mrs. Tiresias recounts her husband’s sudden transformation into a woman, his ensuing struggle with menstruation and gender identity, their strained separation, his public persona as a “woman‑man,” and her memory of a passionate encounter with a female lover at a glittering ball.
Pilate’s Wife recounts witnessing Jesus (the Nazarene) enter Jerusalem, dreaming of his crucifixion, sending a warning to Pontius Pilate, observing his crowning with thorns and Pilate’s ceremonial hand‑washing, and concluding that he was not divine despite Pilate’s belief.
Mrs Aesop recounts her husband Aesop’s constant, pretentious moralizing about animals, mocks his endless fables, and finally silences him by delivering a dark fable about a cock, an axe, and cutting off his tail, asserting her superiority.
Mrs Sisyphus’s monologue introduces her as the wife of Sisyphus, describing his endless task of pushing a massive stone up a hill, her growing resentment, her feeling of isolation, and his mantra “Mustn’t shirk”.
Mrs Faust recounts her marriage to Faust, their joint academic achievements and material accumulation, Faust’s relentless pursuit of power and infidelities, his ultimate pact with Mephistopheles and descent into Hell, and her inheriting his entire fortune.
Delilah restrains her battle‑scarred husband by chaining him to a door and shaves off all his hair after an intense night together, signalling her effort to make him change.
Anne Hathaway reflects on Shakespeare’s bequest of the “second best bed,” turning it into a vivid, sensual landscape that symbolizes their shared creativity, love, and lasting intimacy, and she affirms that she carries his presence within her even after his death.
Queen Kong falls in love with a documentary filmmaker on a tropical island, pursues him back to New York, murders him after his death, and preserves his body as a jeweled necklace, declaring his unrivaled love.
Medusa narrates her spiraling jealousy, the physical metamorphosis of her hair into snakes, and her newfound power to turn objects—and the Greek god she loves—into stone, culminating in a confrontational monologue about her loss of beauty and identity.
The Devil’s Wife recounts an abusive affair with the Devil, a burial ritual, imprisonment, fragmented memories including a Medusa persona, repeated denial, a fifty‑year night monologue, and a litany of possible punishments.
Circe reveals an intimate, ritualistic bond with pigs, detailing an elaborate cooking ceremony, recounts youthful swims among black ships and longing for men, and reasserts her perpetual connection to the sea and animal companions.
Mrs Lazarus endures an obsessive, ritualised period of mourning—ripping her wedding dress, clawing burial stones, living in a single cot, performing the “Stations of Bereavement”—and then experiences a sudden revelation when villagers rush toward her, signalling that her supposedly dead husband has returned in a rotting, dishevelled state, confronting her with his horrific, corpse‑like presence.
Chapter 16 introduces the statue bride of Pygmalion, who tells how a man first kisses her cold, marble lips, touches her eyes, and showers her with “girly” gifts (pebbles, bells, pearls, necklaces, rings). He probes her stone flesh for any sign of life, propping her on pillows and speaking in harsh, contradictory tones. Eventually she softens like candle wax, returns his kisses, becomes sexually responsive, begs for his child, and reaches a climactic scream—after which the man vanishes and she has not seen him again.
Mrs Rip Van Winkle describes her stagnant middle‑aged life, taking up painting trips to imagined landmarks, abandoning sexual activity, and discovering her husband in bed on Viagra.
Salome awakens to find a severed male head on her pillow, implying she has murdered her lover; she calls the maid, cleans up, and resolves to abandon drinking, smoking, and casual sex.
Eurydice recounts her death in the Underworld, Orpheus’s return with the warning not to look back, her manipulations to make him glance at her, his brief turn prompted by her faux praise of his poem, and her final vanishing.
The Kray Sisters, twin East‑End gangsters, are introduced; their militant suffragette grandmother, mother’s death, and ascent through the clubs Ballbreakers and Prickteasers establish their reputation for protection, fame, and celebrity connections.
Elvis’s twin sister, now a nun called Sister Presley, describes her convent life, garden work, and continual connection to Elvis’s mythology.
Pope Joan recounts her secret life as a female Pope, describing elaborate liturgical rituals and a miraculous childbirth on a road that has no male or papal father.
Penelope narrates her endless waiting for Odysseus, describing how she occupies herself with increasingly intricate embroidery that maps her yearning, loss, and the arrival of a too‑late visitor.
Mrs Beast recounts her myth‑laden self‑image, a sensual and violent partnership with the literal Beast, a climactic poker showdown among fantastical women, and ends with a solemn prayer before summoning the Beast for the night.
Demeter endures a harsh winter in a cold stone room, using stone imagery to break through emotional ice; her daughter Persephone arrives after a long trek, barefoot across the fields, bringing spring flowers to Demeter’s house, warming the air and ushering in a new moon.