To create a story about the opposite of Penelope, a writer would probably have to place her in a different culture than the world of Bronze Age Greece. The world that Homer creates depicts married women as under the protectorship of their husbands or, in the case of Penelope, her now-mature son Telemachus (given that Odysseus has been away from home for twenty years).
To portray Penelope as more independent, one could take Sophocles' character Antigone as a model. Antigone is unmarried and defies King Creon's order not to bury her brother Polyneices. For this "crime," Antigone is sentenced to death.
Another possible model for a more independent Penelope would be to transform her into a barbarian female like Euripides' character Medea. After Medea's husband divorces her, she takes revenge on him by poisoning his new bride and killing her own children (Medea's own children).
As for the notion that Penelope has not come to terms with Odysseus' marital infidelities, we should keep in mind that both Calypso and Circe are divinities. Odysseus was essentially Calypso's love slave and in Odyssey 10 the god Hermes had directed Odysseus to sleep with Circe:
Then she’ll invite you to her bed, and don’t refuse the goddess’ favours, if you want her to free your men, and care for you too.
(Kline translation).
Furthermore, in Odyssey 23, Odysseus tells Penelope all about his various adventures, including his sexual escapades with Calypso. So, Homer seems to suggest that Penelope has "come to terms" with Odysseus' extramarital affairs. After all, when Odysseus tells his story, Penelope reports that "she loved to hear it all".
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