Odysseus returns alone. But in a feminist-surrealist retelling, rescue is communal. In the imagined final scene of Fidelio: Alice’s Odyssey , the protagonist does not return to a throne. She returns to a tea party, where the Mad Hatter, the prison's political prisoners, and a chorus of Leonores all sing Beethoven’s "Ode to Joy" while the Queen of Hearts’ cards swirl into a spiral of playing-card butterflies.
Critics note a fine balance between the sweaty, "greasy" reality of engine room operations and the emotional, often messy, romantic choices Alice makes at sea. Fidelio- Alice-s Odyssey
Alice leaves her loving fiancé (Felix) to work as a marine mechanic on an old freighter (the Odysseus returns alone