60 pages • 2 hours read
Ashley WinsteadThe Last Housewife
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Roman Pugio
Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses death by suicide, misogyny, gender essentialism, and cult activity.
Don is a collector of Roman and Greek antiques, and these antiques are symbolic of his adherence to what he considers “traditional” gender roles. His multiple references to Aristotle, including taking the name Nico Stagiritis—derived from Aristotle’s father, Nicomachus, and his birthplace, Stagira—likewise serve to emphasize his desire to emulate what he considers to be the peak of masculinity. The pugio in his collection is a dagger, which Shay notes has a blackened tip, and Don uses the dagger when he forces Shay, Laurel, and Rachel to punish Clem for trying to escape. Rachel then uses the dagger when she kills Clem, and Laurel wields the pugio when she is interrogating Shay. In the culmination of the novel, Don uses the pugio to cut open Shay’s shirt, and he remarks on how the Norse axe is a fitting weapon to oppose the pugio, referring to the “pagan” Norse against the “civilized” Romans.
The symbolism of the pugio is the full weight of Don’s desire for total control and dominance over women. Specifically, it is a physical representation of the violent ideals that guide Don and the rest of the Paters in their goal of subjugating all women. Though the interpretation Don presents of Roman gender roles is inaccurate and twisted, the pugio, for Don, is a reminder of his belief that men were once in control of the world. For Rachel, Laurel, Clem, and Shay, the pugio represents Don’s control rather than its Roman origins, as Rachel uses it on Clem to garner favor with Don, Laurel uses it to die by suicide at Don’s command, and Shay is repulsed by it after breaking free from Don’s control.
The Temple Brand/Modest Dresses
When Shay joins the Paters, she is forced to get a brand (a scar made by pressing heated, shaped metal against skin) to show her allegiance to the society. The brand itself is an image of a Greek or Roman temple, and all the “daughters” of the Paters have the brand. It is unclear if the men in the society are also branded, but it seems unlikely that they would be, as the brand represents the ownership the Paters desire over women. Branding is a practice that originates in animal husbandry, as livestock are commonly branded to prevent theft, and, even in animal husbandry, the practice has received pushback for the pain and trauma it inflicts on the animals. Likewise, the Paters brand women to prevent escape, allowing them to identify “daughters” even outside the confines of society parties.
While the brand represents the Paters’ sense of ownership over the women in the society, the modest dresses the women wear represent their conception of being owned by the Paters. Shay notes that Don would make her, Laurel, and Clem wear dresses that button from behind, making them difficult to take off, and all the Pater Society women dress in long dresses with pantyhose, intended to convey modesty. Unlike branding, getting dressed is an act that the women perform themselves, and donning the clothing required by the Pater Society is a way for the “daughters” to show devotion to the cult. As symbols, the brand and dresses work on opposite sides of the same concept, with the brand being inflicted by Paters to show ownership and the dresses worn by the women to express being owned.
Jamie’s Phone/Interviewing Shay
The motif in the novel of including transcripts of Jamie’s podcast, Transgressions, enforces a dominant idea of truth or exposure, which is represented in Jamie’s phone, primarily, as well as in the recording device that Shay hides when she goes to Pater Society events. The novel, while focused on Shay’s character development and the unfolding of her self-perception during the investigation of Laurel’s death, is hinged on Shay’s need to revisit her past and piece together how her and Laurel’s lives played out as they have. Jamie, through his podcast, offers Shay the ability to explore the truth by exposing herself and her life to the scrutiny of the journalist’s process, including telling her story, opening herself to Jamie’s commentary, and undertaking a serious pursuit of the truth. Just as the recording device uncovers the Paters, Jamie’s phone uncovers Shay, and the process of interviewing allows both Shay and the reader to reflect and gain a grander perspective on the themes of the novel.
Initially, Jamie is the one who wants to interview Shay, but, as the novel progresses, Shay begins reaching for Jamie’s phone herself, wielding it as a symbol of empowerment and strength through self-exposure. Much as Shay relished making herself a spectacle on the pageant stage, she transforms her desire for outward attention into an inward examination of her own history and motivations. At the end of the novel, Jamie and Shay reveal that episode 705 of Transgressions is actually a request for help and a search for redemption in the aftermath of Don’s death, turning the truth of the interviews outward and onto the audience, including the reader. This reversal, from introspection to explanation, follows Shay’s desire to spread awareness and save others. As she notes throughout the novel, understanding Laurel requires one to understand Shay, and the novel, itself, becomes a testimony on different perspectives of women and trauma.
