More handpicked essays just for you.
Feminist perspective of handmaids tale
Feminist perspective of handmaids tale
Feminist perspective of handmaids tale
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Handmaids Tale
The Subjection of Woman, Justified Through Dystopian, Biblical Zealotry in The Handmaid’s Tale
The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, and published in 1985 is a shocking example of a possible dystopian world created through fanatical biblical zealotry. This piece of literature can be viewed as one of the final cornerstones of 2nd wave Feminism, as a lens to the possible oppression of the patriarchy justified through the church and bible. We will seek to analyze the novels biblical references and how they can be intertwined with the subjection of woman and used as a justification. The author, Margaret Atwood, tastefully chooses these biblical references to serve as a warning for the oppression of woman by the
…show more content…
patriarchy, which requires a certain understanding of the bible to fully bring forth her warnings and advocacy of the dangers of this possible biblical zealotry. The dystopian future created by Margaret Atwood is heavily influenced by the bible as well as second-wave feminist thoughts which include woman’s right, or the lack-there-of, and the oppression by the patriarchy. Religion is used as the ultimate method of control of this society, a government where there is no separation of church and state, a totalitarian, theocratic society, that can be viewed through the lens of the Bible to uphold certain justifications of female oppression. The Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian, theocratic state, that has now replaced the United States of America in the novel, starts us off with our first Biblical reference. According to the Hebrew Dictionary, Gilead, may mean “hill of testimony. Gilead in the Bible is closely connected with history of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob, and the prophet Jeremiah, who was born in Gilead. Gilead is run on fundamentalist, religious and patriarchal principles. Gilead itself is mentioned in the bible in Hosea 6.8. “Gilead is a city of them that work in iniquity, and is polluted with blood.” Through this, we may gather that Margaret Atwood’s choice to choose this city or region in particular, can be used as the pinnacle of testimony to the possible loss of woman’s right in order to influence fellow women to take a stand against the tyranny of a male dominated society, which produces subservient women for the machine. “Polluted by blood” we can take reference to the revolutionary and warlike uprising of the Republic of Gilead. In Atwood’s dystopia, reproduction rates are dangerously low, and Handmaids are assigned to bear children for the elite. Women of the upper-class hold true to “traditional values” while woman of lower classes are expected to spawn off-spring of the sterile upper-class, like cogs in a patriarchal machine. In order to obtain a deeper understanding of this “testimony” presented by Atwood, we should review the doctrine or dogma established by the Gilead government. The Book of Genesis, also referred to as the Christian Old Testament, is the de-facto book that the state follows which heavily influences its doctrine of government. In Genesis there is a clear and distinct hierarchy of gender which is that men are above woman. In Genesis, it is evidently clear of woman’s original sin against man. In Timothy 2:12 to 2:15 the only way for women to be saved is through childbearing, as long as they uphold the “traditional values” of faith, charity and holiness through their servitude to man, and not to usurp the authority of man, but to be in silence. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. Astonishingly as it may sound, but the very fabric of the Old testament is built upon women’s subservience to man, as she must right her original sin of taking the fruit and casting man from paradise. However, it is for this reason that The Republic of Gilead are justified with their biblical references from Genesis, which they are able to claim supreme authority of women in their newly founded, totalitarian, theocratic state, and as referenced in the bible, they are not to usurp authority over the man, but to remain in silence. The patriarchal Republic of Gilead, passed laws denying women of jobs, property and money, all women who were not officially recognized as wives, widows or lower-class Econowives were sorted into 4 groups: (1) The women with “viable ovaries” ( 38:234), became “ two-legged wombs” (23:128), nuns of fertility known as Handmaids; dressing in long red dresses and white-winged hoods, they were assigned to a particular commander with a sterile wife, and given new names which would start with “Of” followed by their commanders name. (2) Post-menopausal or unmarried sterile women were called Aunts, their jobs were to indoctrinated the Handmaids with the aid of cattle prods and whistles(2); (3) a green-dressed servant-class known as Marthas; and (4) women who could not or would not belong to these groups were hanged as subversive “ criminals “ and became known as “Unwomen” who were usually given the job of clearing toxic wastes which was a death sentence in itself. Some women were allowed employment as prostitutes, but this alternative was not officially recognized (209:210). The categories of women are directly interwoven with the bible. However first we will take note of the sterile-commander-wives. The wives of the Commanders wore blue dresses which represented the Virgin Mary. Similarly to the Virgin Mary, these wives believe they are granted a child from god, which in this case, were the Handmaids. In the bible, Luke 1:28 Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary, was described by God as “highly favored “or by a single Greek word(Xaritow) which means “Much grace.” Grace is “unmerited favor,” which means something we receive despite the fact we do not deserve it. Just like the sterile wives, they are handed babies from God, though they did nothing of their own merit to receive the child. The Handmaids or nuns of fertility, used exclusively for reproductive purposes, related directly to the story of Rachel and Leah, which is found in the Book of Genesis. While ultimately Rachel birthed 2 offspring, we are able to relate her to the sterile wives of the commander, and Jacob, the husband of both Rachel and Leah to be in parity with the commander. In Genesis 30:1-30:3 we are able to clearly see a comparison between the Handmaids, the sterile-wives and the bible. 30:1 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister.
So she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I'll die!"
30:2 And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
30:3 Then she said, "Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her."
We are able to view clear juxtapositions that the sterile-wives are like Rachel, Leah and the servant are like the Handmaids. The “Rachels” want nothing more than to please their husband by providing them with offspring, and the Handmaids are the servants who are able to provide the wife with the children that Rachel so desires. A painfully obvious proof to this comparison, is that the Handmaid’s Education Center is named “Rachel and Leah Center.”
Martha are infertile or old women who work in the households, they are servants to the commanders and also help care for the Handmaids. In the Bible, Martha refers to the sister of Mary who served Jesus rather than listening to his teachings. Martha was left to do all the preparations that the Lord requested, Martha was to take care of Mary and Jesus, as it was needed of her. (Luke 10:38-42) Just like the Martha in the Bible, the Martha in the Handmaids tale, are servants who did not directly practice the same things as the handmaids, who are required to birth children, though they were accomplices to the
…show more content…
servitude, like Martha with Mary in the Bible. Another note-worthy mention of types of women in The Handmaid’s tale would be the prostitutes also known as Jezebels.
The Jezebels in The Handmaid’s tale were prostitutes who clearly go against the teachings of the Bible. The antithesis of holiness and purity. Gilead is a state that claims to function on the basis of Christianity but lacks morality and spiritualty. According to the Book of Kings, Jezebel encouraged her husband, King Ahab to abandon the worship of God. It is like the Jezebels in the Handmaid’s tale that these prostitutes, led the “holy-men” of Gilead astray , down a path of lust and adultery, a truly grave sin. While these acts were turned the other cheek in the Republic of Gilead, Jezebel in the Bible was thrown out of a window, and her flesh consumed by dogs ( Kings 9:30-37). We can draw a parallel that like the Jezebel in the Bible, the Jezebel’s in the Handmaid’s tale are constantly having their flesh consumed by “dogs” or the men of the Republic of Gilead, on a routine basis. It strikes to mind the tale of Prometheus, a Titan in Greek Mythology in charge of crafting mankind of clay. Prometheus went against the wishes of Zeus, and as punishment Prometheus was chained to a mountain top so that a raven would consume his regenerating liver everyday for eternity as Prometheus was immortal. Prometheus who sought to better mankind by bestowing the gift of fire to man, subjected to eternal damnation on the mountain top, inversely depicted are the Jezebels of
Gilead, subjected to eternal sin by the “holy” rulers of the Republic of Gilead, like Zeus at the peak of Mount Olympus. It self-evident that the Republic of Gilead uses the Bible as a method to control the society and reach absolute patriarchal supremacy. Like the women of Gilead who are separated into ranks or groups, so are the men of Gilead. (1) Commanders of the Faithful, were high-status men, they can be paralleled to the Commanders of Lord’s Army in the Bible, who were angels of the highest status and expertise to lead armies into battle to perform God’s will incarnate. (2) The Guardians of the Faith were members of the Police Force of Gilead. (3) Angels were soldiers who fight wars against other religions. (4) Eyes of the Lord who were the secret police that maintain the order in Gilead. 2 Chronicles 16:9 in the bible states, “For the Eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.” As a result of this oracle, Asa, the 3rd king of Judah brutally oppressed some of these people (2 Chronicles 16:10). Like the Eyes of the Lord in the Bible, the secret police in Gilead strengthen the hearts of those committed to the cause, and brutally oppress and subjugate those who would go against them. There is a great important and influence of religion on people.
In The Handmaid’s Tale Offred refers to Handmaids as a “two-legged wombs” “sacred vessels” and “ambulatory chalices” (136). While “two-legged wombs” is fairly literal both “sacred vessels” and “ambulatory chalices” have religious connotations. This relates back to the idea that Handmaids are used to bear children for the benefit of society and God. “Vessels” and “chalices” both remind readers of physical objects, such as communion cups, used by the church. The Handmaids are seen as religious objects by their governments and by the Commanders that they have to have sexual relations with. Atwood is trying to tell readers that bearing children is something that should never be forced on a woman, for religious reasons or not, either by the government, or more realistically in today’s world by a man. We can see a different message regarding reproduction being given by Butler. “‘See,’ Nigel told me later with some bitterness. “‘Cause of Carrie and me, he’s one nigger richer’” (161). Butler exposes the problems with slaves being dehumanized and seen as property. It’s important that Nigel was bitter about this situation. His child was being seen as making a white man “one nigger richer.” Slave owners saw their slaves as a form of currency rather than human beings. While Atwood critiques the government’s view of reproduction Butler is critiquing the slave owner’s view. Both
Imagine a country where choice is not a choice. One is labeled by their age and economical status. The deep red cloaks, the blue embroidered dresses, and the pinstriped attire are all uniforms to define a person's standing in society. To be judged, not by beauty or personality or talents, but by the ability to procreate instead. To not believe in the Puritan religion is certain death. To read or write is to die. This definition is found to be true in the book, The Handmaid's Tale (1986) by Margaret Atwood. It is a heartbreaking story of one young woman and her transformation into the Gilead society, the society described above. In the book, we meet Offred, the narrator of the story. This story is not the first to create a society in which the only two important beliefs in a society are the ability to procreate and a strict belief in God. It is seen several times in the Old Testament, the Bible. The Biblical society is not as rigid as the Republic of Gilead, which Margaret Atwood has built, but it is very similar. The Handmaid's Tale holds several biblical allusions.
The Gilead Society has segregated women into different caste systems. There are six main categories in the caste system. The first are the Wives, who wear blue dresses and are at the top of the female hierarchy. Their main purpose is reproduce with their husbands, if they are unable then Handmaids are used. Then there are Daughters, either the natural or adopted children of the ruling class. They tend to wear white until marriage. The next are the Handmaids, fertile women whose sole purpose is to reproduce children for the wives. Handmaids wear a full red dress outfit with red gloves, red shoes, and...
Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale is a story heavily influenced by the Bible and has many biblical themes that are used to prove Atwood’s belief in balance. The novel is set in the Republic of Gilead which was formerly the United States. The story is told through the perspective of a handmaid named Offred and begins when she is placed at her third assignment as a housemaid. Offred describes her society as a fundamentalist theocracy where the Christian God is seen as the divine Ruler over the Republic of Gilead. Atwood is often thought of as a feminist writer but through this novel her writing is not completely feminist nor patriarchal but something in the middle. Atwood is also someone who described herself as a “strict agnostic”
Due to the fact that the Wives are not allowed to sleep with their husbands, the Wives are all extremely envious of the Handmaids. In Gilead, Serena is deprived of a life of genuine freedom and is forced to watch her husband sleep with his Handmaid. This makes her extremely bitter and jealous and so she takes this out on the Handmaids–including the main character–although it is not exactly their fault. Although the reader is sympathetic to her emotions, they are still completely unfair. The fact that Serena feels hostility towards the Handmaids is ignorant because she knows that they have not chosen their position in society, but rather they were forced into it. At the end of the novel, Serena finds out about Offred’s secret visit to Jezebel’s. She is mostly upset with Offred, which is completely unreasonable because the Commander had forced her to accompany him to Jezebel’s. This is a direct example of the feminist way of thinking: it’s always the fault of a women’s promiscuity, not a man’s. Serena’s attitude supports the order of Gilead, because she tortures the Handmaids, who cannot help themselves. She knows that these women are forced to become Handmaids, yet she still continues to envy them and punish them. Although she should, she has no sympathy for other women and plays the exact role that society requires her to. Women like her allow Gilead to function because they enforce the
In Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaids Tale’, we hear a transcribed account of one womans posting ‘Offred’ in the Republic of Gilead. A society based around Biblical philosophies as a way to validate inhumane state practises. In a society of declining birth rates, fertile women are chosen to become Handmaids, walking incubators, whose role in life is to reproduce for barren wives of commanders. Older women, gay men, and barren Handmaids are sent to the colonies to clean toxic waste.
Neuman, Shirley. "'Just A Backlash': Margaret Atwood, Feminism, And "The Handmaid's Tale.." University Of Toronto Quarterly 75.3 (2006): 857-868. Academic Search Elite. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, social turmoil after a staged terrorist attack has led to a totalitarian Christian regime. In this dystopian future, the roles of men and women are much different than in today’s society. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are unequal because they have no choice about their bodies, their dress, or their relationships.
Here, they are trained to become proper handmaids, so that they may fulfil their duties with dignity. The Center also serves to “educate” the handmaids on hand picked passages from the Bible. “Give me children, or else I die” (Genesis 30:1), Rachel cried to Jacob, ashamed of her infertility. The phrase is presented to the handmaids in the novel as a form of a mantra, teaching them to be associate shame with their lack of children. However, while Rachel only fears shame, the handmaids are taught to fear more, since “there 's more than one meaning to it” (Atwood 68). If deemed infertile, the handmaids are declared to be “Unwomen” and sent to the colonies to work under hazardous conditions among radioactive waste – waste that will kill them. The handmaids’ threatened future also creates a contrast between them and the families of Commanders they are meant to serve. The Wives of the houses fear shame, just as Rachel does, but they are protected under the Gileadean law in that they have very little chance of becoming Unwomen. Their desire for children is merely a desire for praise within their social circle, since the Wives that are able to “bear” children are held up with respect and admiration, with barely any consequences if they are childless. While the phrase is more applicable
This principle from the Bible is used throughout ‘The Handmaids Tale’, the principles being that it is the idea of both assemblages that a women’s duty is to have children and that it is acceptable for a man to be angry if a women can not produce a child. Both these beliefs show that in jointly the Bible and ‘The Handmaids Tale’, women are completely defined by fertility and are classed as ‘walking wombs’. ‘The Handmaids Tale’ recreates the selected stanzas from the bible with Jacob, Rachel, Leah and the two handmaids. The tale is an Old Testament story about surrogate mothers, on which the novel is based. The section gives biblical precedent for the several practices of Gilead, by doing this it paves the way for Atwood to comment on patriarchy where women are undervalued and abused in all walks of life. The idea is also expressed later when we discover the ‘Red Centre’ governmentally known as the ‘Rachel and Leah Centre’. As the basis of the novel it is replicated many times throughout the text, for example, it is found in the family reading before the monthly ceremonies, and in Rachel’s plea ‘give me children, or else I die’. This clearly lays emphasis on the threat to the Handmaids life. By failing to produce a child, they will be classed as Unwomen and sent to the Colonies to die.
It is especially directed towards the Handmaids. Throughout the novel, Atwood quotes parts of the Bible to explain key points of a Handmaid’s purpose. Religious language is present on ceremony nights “God to Adam, God to Noah…Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…Give me children, or else I die. Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? Behold my maid Bilhah. She shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.”(Atwood 88). Atwood uses religious language to capture the essence of human reproduction placed upon Handmaids. The purpose of a Handmaid, is solely for her reproductive capabilities, leaving her extremities vulnerable to torture. The term ceremony night, is used to indicate when a Handmaid is her most fertile. Handmaid’s are forced against their will to carry out the task of repopulating Gilead. As a result, Handmaids will themselves to be raped by their commander while lying between the legs of his wife “My arms are raised; she holds my hands, each of mine in each of hers. This is supposed to signify that we are one flesh, one being.”(Atwood 94). The act alone is torture. Offred uses her imagination to pull herself away from the act while the commander does his duty “…I lie still and picture the unseen canopy over my head. I remember Queen Victoria’s advice to her daughter: Close your eyes and think of England.”(Atwood 94). The act creates a distortion among Handmaids: if they do not comply, to the word of God, and bear a child for their commander, they will be punished by further torture, or even death. And, if Handmaids do submit, the result would be the birth of a child conceived by rape. Atwood leaves a new perspective on religious language, she creates fear by carefully twisting the definition of Bible
Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, the author Margaret Atwood gives the reader an understanding of what life would be like in a theocratic society that controls women’s lives. The narrator, Offred, gives the reader her perspective on the many injustices she faces as a handmaid. Offred is a woman who lived before this society was established and when she undergoes the transition to her new status she has a hard time coping with the new laws she must follow. There are many laws in this government that degrade women and give men the authority to own their household. All women are placed in each household for a reason and if they do not follow their duties they are sent away or killed.
As The Handmaid’s Tale is considered an allegory of the social injustice women face against traditional expectations of their role in society, the symbolism of the Handmaids and other women as a whole for repressed feminine liberty and sexuality allows Atwood to connect her work to the theme between gender and expectations in her society. As Handmaids in the Republic of Gilead, females are stripped of their previous identity and are defined as a tool of reproduction for the men who is assigned them. At its core, these females are forced against their will to be mere tools, experiencing unwanted sex at least once a month, which Gilead names “The Ceremony”, hiding its true nature as a form of rape. Offred
In the novel The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood the themes of Religion and inter-human relationships are the themes that are most evident in the text. This novel shows the possibility of the existence of an all-powerful governing system. This is portrayed through the lack of freedom for women in society, from being revoked of their right to own any money or property, to being stripped of their given names and acquiring names such as Offred and Ofglen, symbolizing women’s dependant existence, only being defined by the men which they belong to. This portrayal of women demonstrates the idea that individuals are unimportant, that the goals of the society as a whole are more pertinent. “For our purposes, your feet and your hands are not essential” (chapter 15) is a quote revealing that Gilead denies rights to individuals and to humankind. In The Handmaids Tale, handmaids are only considered of value for their ability to reproduce, otherwise they are disposable. Religion is an aspect very prominent in the society of Gilead. We see this in chapter 4, where Ofglen and Offred meet and th...
The epigraph in The Handmaid’s Tale amplifies the importance of fertility in Gilead. The quotation at the beginning of the book ‘‘And when Rachel saw the she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said unto Jacob, Give me children or else I die...And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees,that I may also have children by her.’’ makes it seem that Gilead wants to go back to traditional values, thus manipulates its citizens that their ideology is correct since it corresponds with what the Bible says. Consequently, this state is telling its citizens that a woman’s worthiness only depends if she is able to produce or not. In fact women who are barren, and are not of a high class are sent to the colonies. The handmaids’s only purpose is further amplified through the rights Gilead abolishes; they can not communicate with others, in fact Offred says, ‘How I used to despise such talk. Now I long for it’ and are no longer able to go outside alone or without being spied...