More handpicked essays just for you.
Women and feminity in the handmaids tale
Margaret Apwood "The Handmaid's Tale" representation of women
Where has atwood indicated the ways of feminism in the handmaid's tale 25 marks essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
An Analysis of How Internal and External Powers Affect an Individual
Plato’s statement that “The measure of a man is what he does with power.” entertains the idea that an individual is defined by the power they possess. There are two main components of the powers that affect an individual, their own internal powers and the external powers from the society around them. While internal powers stem more from individuality, external powers root from societal norms like patriarchy and the gender inequality that results from it. Though both powers heavily influence making decisions, a power struggle may occur when weighing possible outcomes. In Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, the struggle between an individual harnessing power
…show more content…
and the power exerted by society is expressed through Offred’s rebellious decision-making despite the stickler of a society she lives in. One of the biggest obstacles Offred faces is maintaining her individuality. Offred’s loyalty to the person she knows herself to be becomes increasingly difficult to maintain throughout her time as a Handmaid. Living in Gilead’s cookie-cutter society of patriarchy and conservatism, Offred must ensure herself that she is more than the “wraith of red smoke” she sees in the mirror (Atwood, 208). Offred’s individuality enables her to drive power from within herself. To obtain such a strong mentality requires understanding the importance of self sense. Offred demonstrates this understanding by deciding against “being a victim” in which she declares that she “intends to last” (Neuman, 6). A task that seems much too familiar to Offred is the seeking of encouragement from inside herself.. After losing both her husband and daughter in the tragic reconstruction of society, Offred learns to adapt to her newfound internal dependence. Beneath the tyrannous thickets of Gilead, Offred clings to the memories that serve as cherished reminders of her individuality. Even the minimal acts of “exchanging names, from bed to bed” with the other Handmaids aids Offred’s grasp on individualism (Atwood, 4). Without these mentality stabilizers, Offred would crumble under the harsh high-handedness of Gilead. The intensity of Gilead’s regulations plays a key role in the development of Offred’s character.
In regards to gender roles, Gilead heavily enforces patriarchal values onto its citizens. The gap in social status between the women and men of this society illustrates the “extremes of traditional roles” (Gale, 1). In Gilead, the Commanders uphold the highest rankings in society. The positions Commanders obtain lift them onto a pedestal of power in which they hover over the lower rankings of both men and women. This suffocating authority that smothers the Handmaids exemplifies the idea that, in society, “what is negated is woman’s identity as defined by men, and as enshrined the patriarchal family.” (Castells, 234).The lack in equality motivates Offred to attempt to break free from the crooked system. However, not all of the external powers originate from the routine patriarchal acts …show more content…
(Perkins). Some of the women in Gilead also contribute to the pull factors of rebellion. Generally, the common goal of the women would be to “redefine womanhood in different opposition to patriarchalism.” (Castells, 235). The Marthas that Offred lives with try to get her to accept things for the way that they are. They believe that there’s no use in fighting something bigger than and more powerful than themselves. The Wives of Gilead, however, seem to be unphased by what any other roles commence with. The main focus of the Wives revolve around representing their husbands, the Commanders. One of the comparable contrasts between Handmaids and Wives is the devotion to the roles they have been assigned to fulfill. While Wives represent status symbols, Handmaids are manipulated to be surrogate mothers for the high and mighty couples of Gilead. From an analytical aspect, the societal structure of Gilead falls under the criticism of Marxist theory. The Marxist Critical Perspective explains how people are divided from each other through the analysis of society. The division of the classes and ranks throughout the community provokes an uprising among a select few of rebellious individuals fed up with the toxic status quo. Writer Asami Nakamura concludes that Atwood’s novel “offers not only a critique or bellion, but also that of interpretation, by questioning how victims’ voices have to be assessed.” (Nakamura, 14). Instead of creating unification among the people, the society of Gilead stimulates separation and inequality. Whether the rebellion is a big defiant act or a small act of morality, Offred learns that she must not stay anchored down to the constricting divisions around her. The utilization of both external and internal powers exemplifies why Offred demonstrates a prime example of the necessary collaboration of both powers on an individual. As her own personal act of justified rebellion, Offred defies the rules of Gilead by sneaking away to her secret lover, Nick (Perkins, 3). Without her internal drive to seek out her own personal wants, Offred would have remained locked behind a cell of obedience. Both forces of power are necessary for an individual to efficiently make decisions. Offred’s hunger to preserve her own identity provokes her to continue throughout her journey in Gilead. The need for individuality combined with the need for freedom greatly impacted Offred’s way of thinking and the actions she followed through with. Nick, especially, helps her through the external rebellion by allowing her to “regain some individual power” (Perkins, 3). The two types of powers act as the yin and yang of Offred’s life. Her full potential would not have been reached had there been a lack of one of the powers. For an individual to thrive in their society, they must utilize the internal power the hold within themselves along with the external powers they cannot control.
Though the power is out of her hands for a majority of her story, Offred hangs onto her inner source of encouragement to survive. All of the elements of internal power that an individual possesses pushes them to “save” themselves. Offred uses this push to lead herself out of her currently daunting situation. The external powers are what push individuals to make bold decisions. Given the circumstances, Offred’s only choices that led towards freedom were to rebel against, disobey, and completely break some rules. The external powers are the catalysts that generate the boldness of the individual. This boldness can result in rash decisions that ultimately benefit the individual in the end. To fully survive in a state of internal satisfaction, an individual must learn to live with and appropriate the two influences. Though “The measure of a man is what he does with power”, how he benefits from that power determines his survival within
society.
In the novel offred and others in that time was going through hardships, struggles and challenges.
Balance of power in the Handmaid’s Tale almost always happens against the law to counteract the strict social hierarchy, while imbalance of power almost always indicates a dependence of someone lower on the social ladder on someone higher. People of different social levels aren’t supposed to interact, or they're supposed to have the least amount of interaction possible to keep Gilead going. However, some characters break this hierarchy by interacting, thus breaking the law. At one point in the book, Offred and Ofwarren realize they have found an ally in each other. They find out because Ofwarren said something that is considered treason, and Offred went along with it. Handmaids aren’t supposed to even look each other in the eye, let alone have
In Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, women are subjected to unthinkable oppression. Practically every aspect of their life is controlled, and they are taught to believe that their only purpose is to bear children for their commander. These “handmaids” are not allowed to read, write or speak freely. Any type of expression would be dangerous to the order of the Gilead’s strict society. They are conditioned to believe that they are safer in this new society. Women are supposedly no longer exploited or disrespected (pornography, rape, etc.) as they once were. Romantic relationships are strongly prohibited because involving emotion would defeat the handmaid’s sole purpose of reproducing. Of course not all women who were taken into Gilead believed right what was happening to their way of life. Through the process of storytelling, remembering, and rebellion, Offred and other handmaids cease to completely submit to Gilead’s repressive culture.
...entioned forms of Offred’s power were not physical power. She also has the most physical power as she is the person who carries the baby and gets pregnant. Then later in the novel after Serena suggests about seeing Nick. Offred is given a cigarette and then a match and with that match Offred could burn the house down killing the Commander and Serena and then trying to escape. She could burn herself so that she no longer has to live or suffer the indignity of being continually raped by this society.
In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, there is an apparent power struggle between Offred and the Commander. The Gilead Society’s structure is based off of order and command. This is what creates a divide between genders and specifies gender roles in this novel. Without this categorization of the roles and expectations of women, the society would fall apart at the base. Thus, the Commander, being the dominant gender set forth by the society, has control over Offred.
The Handmaids Tale is a poetic tale of a woman's survival as a Handmaid in the male dominated Republic of Gilead. Offred portrayed the struggle living as a Handmaid, essentially becoming a walking womb and a slave to mankind. Women throughout Gilead are oppressed because they are seen as "potentially threatening and subversive and therefore require strict control" (Callaway 48). The fear of women rebelling and taking control of society is stopped through acts such as the caste system, the ceremony and the creation of the Handmaids. The Republic of Gilead is surrounded with people being oppressed. In order for the Republic to continue running the way it is, a sense of control needs to be felt by the government. Without control Gilead will collapse.
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”
Thesis: In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood characterizes Handmaids, as women with expectations to obey the society’s hierarchy, as reproducers, symbolizing how inferior the Handmaid class is to others within Gilead; the class marginalization of Handmaids reveals the use of hierarchical control exerted to eliminate societal flaws among citizens.
Atwood gives readers a firsthand look at the second class treatment of women through the eyes of Offred, the handmaid. Offred has been ripped away from her husband and daughter to become a breeder for someone whom she doesnít love. How does a person respond to this type of situation?
The setting of The Handmaid’s Tale – known as Gilead – is a totalitarian government, originally based on Old Testament patriarchy. This structure forbids rival loyalties or parties, so all loyalty must be for the group of men that govern the State. Such a structure means that women are assigned ‘roles’ according to their biological ‘usefulness’.
In Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood creates a society of oppression in which she redefines oppression in common culture. Gilead is a society characterized by highly regulated systems of social control and extreme regulation of the female body. The instinctive need to “protect and preserve” the female body is driven by the innate biological desires of the men. The manipulation of language, commodification, and attire, enhances the theme of oppression and highlights the imbalance of power in the Gilead society.
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 of each 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. Atwood bases the irrational laws in the Gilead republic on the many
In this manner, Atwood’s characterization of Offred through her individuality and defiant nature, ultimately allow her to present just how societal expectations go hand in hand with gender roles as Offred challenges them just to retain the most basic parts of her identity as a female.
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 Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a compelling tale of a dystopian world where men are the superior sex and women are reduced to their ability to bear children, and when that is gone, they are useless. The story is a very critical analysis of patriarchy and how patriarchal values, when taken to the extreme, affect society as a whole. The result is a very detrimental world, where the expectation is that everyone will be happy and content but the reality is anything but. The world described in The Handmaid’s tale is one that is completely ruled by patriarchal values, which is not unlike our society today.