Ambrose Bierce belonged to the 'Realism' literary movement.
Penelope, the weaver, is a literary reference to fidelity.
While Odysseus is absent, Penelope is pretended by several men, who settle in the palace and nastily eat her banquets, while waiting for the queen to choose one of them. To maintain her fidelity, Penelope tells the suitors that she will accept a new husband when she finishes weaving a shroud for King Laertes, on whom she was working. To prolong this task as long as possible, Penelope undoes at night what she weaves during the day, however, a woman betrays her an tell the other men, so she is forced to finish the job. Odysseus returns just in time, killing the suitors .
Abused people respond well to love, but they usually don't believe it's real. They wonder why they aren't being hurt or why there is no pain in their love. If they are in a relationship with someone who abuses them, and they never got help as a child, they will continue to be abused and hurt. If they did get help as a child, they will, most likely, walk out of the relationship. On the other hand, people who had good childhoods will respond 'normally' to love, getting out of bad relationships, and staying in good ones.
