Misogyny In The Handmaid's Tale

735 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Feminist ideas in the handmaids tale

Feminism is an issue that its origin dates back to the late 1700s. It is the advocacy of women’s rights in hopes of equality of the sexes. Misogyny also plays a very important role in comparison to a feminist approach. Both themes are ?????. The idea for the creation of Gilead originates from many feminist issues arising in the time of the book’s publication. In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, it is evident that the dystopia in which the characters live is against women’s rights because of feminism, misogyny, and a totalitarian government.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, the dystopia begins to emerge from feminist issues in society. Atwood displays this theme from several different perspectives throughout the book. Feminism in the story portrays itself through many lead female …show more content…

Moria, a very vocal female advocate, explains her theory of the reliance women should share in order to rebel against the government of Gilead. Frankly, this society is just too corrupt to make any kind of difference. Women are victims of the society in which they live in, such as being under the control of men limits their rights as not only a woman but a human being. Many strong female characters that play a role in Gilead’s dystopian society struggle with finding their identity after being victims of the men. Offred, for example, is the protagonist in The Handmaid’s Tale. She is in a group of Handmaid's that are responsible for bearing children. This so-called job becomes available after a decline in birth rate when a religious authority takes over the government of Gilead. Previously in the story, she uses herself as a submissive to loveless

Show More
Related

  • How Does Margaret Atwood Use Power In The Handmaid's Tale

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gilead were categorized and toyed with and dominated by the men. Gilead woman are used and

    Read More

  • Personal Discovery of the Protagonist in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are various moments in this book where the personal discovery of the Handmaid, Offred, is displayed. In almost every chapter there is a moment where she recognizes the everyday changes that have happened in her life. Gilead changed the lives of many different people. From having all the freedom one could ever want to having to obey the government’s every order; most people were not happy with this change. Offred was one victim in particular who did not like the new changes. It split her family apart. Her husband Luke was either taken to an unknown place or killed, her daughter was given to a different mother, and she was put to use as a Handmaid. Offred’s life was changed in many detrimental ways. Her job is to now be placed in the home of a Commander and his infertile Wifeand be a “two-legged womb(s), that’s all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices” until they give birth to a child (Atwood 136). After they give birth to the child, they are allowed to stay for a short while to nurse the child. They are then moved into the next home of a Commander to rep...

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Handmaids

    1179 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the gilead society, women are placed in a social hierarchy in which they are defined by their role. The wives are the elite members. The handmaids are the people who produced babies. Marthas are the house servants. Aunts are a prestigious group of people who trained handmaids. Econowives are low class women. However, none of the women are defined as people with their own personalities and interests. Instead, Women are seen as objects that belong to men. Econowives belong to the Guardians. The wives, marthas,

    Read More

  • The Handmaids Tale: Oppression of Women for Male Political Gain

    1779 Words  | 4 Pages

    Callaway, Alanna A., "Women disunited : Margaret Atwood's The handmaid's tale as a critique of feminism" (2008). Master's Theses. Paper 3505.

    Read More

  • Biblical Themes Of The Bible In The Handmaid's Tale

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    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” in an interview with Bill Moyer. In this future society Offred introduces the fact that people in Gilead are divided into separate groups, which have different jobs in society, Offred’s being a Housemaid. A housemaid is a concubine that is assigned to live with a Commander of the Faith and his Wife.

    Read More

  • Handmaids Tale Analysis

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Gender Roles In The Handmaids Tale

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the bottom of the food chain is the women. Compared to men, they are the inferior sex. Basic human rights were stripped away leaving them with nothing but their red dresses and white winged hats. All they have to hold on to is their memories hiding inside their heads. Poked with cattle prods, herded into a crowded gymnasium, and forced to comply with beyond strict rules, the handmaid’s are closely comparable to slaves. Past lives are just that, their past. Women are not only Handmaid’s, there are a total of seven classes, the Wives being on top. The Wives wear all blue and are the partners of the commanders. The Marthas and the Aunts are infertile women who serve commanders and or train Handmaids. Econowives are similarly compared to Handmaids with the difference that their servitude and services are for lower-ranking officials. At the bottom are the Unwoman, they either refuse to be impregnated or are infertile, and as a consequence, they are sent to work in the colonies. Some may choose to work as Jezebels, which is a slang term for prostitution.Most all men have better lives than all classes of women. Commanders or more specifically the Commanders of the Faithful are married to the wives. Angels and Guardians of the Faith are soldiers fight outlaws and enforce laws. The eyes are Gilead’s secret police, no one knows who they are, but they are always

    Read More

  • Atwood's Handmaid's Tale

    896 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Handmaid's Tale presents an extreme example of sexism and misogyny by featuring the complete objectification of women in the society of Gilead. Yet by also highlighting the mistreatment of women in the cultures that precede and follow the Gileadean era, Margaret Atwood is suggesting that sexism and misogyny are deeply embedded in any society and that serious and deliberate attention must be given to these forms of discrimination in order to eliminate them.

    Read More

  • The Handmaids Tale Oppression Analysis

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In The Handmaid's Tale

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Feminist Criticism Of The Handmaid's Tale

    1251 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Women In The Handmaid's Tale

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel The Handmaids Tale by Margret Atwood, Offred has lived a very awful and controlled life by her Commander and Serena Joy. At the end of the book, the van comes and claims that Mayday is here to save her. The theme of the book is power, in 1985 the Gilead government was a dictatorship and had rules for everyone, if you broke the rules death awaits you. According to Amin Malak, “However, not all the female characters in Atwood’s novel are sympathetic, nor all the male ones demonic.” It is evident that Amin Malaks literacy criticism is correct in her assertion because some of the female characters are selfish and the males are generous and caring.

    Read More

  • Relationships and Religion in "The Handmaids Tale" by Margaret Atwood

    613 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Fertility and Motherhood in The Handmaid´s Tale by Margaret Atwood

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    Margaret Atwood sheds light on two concepts that are intertwined; fertility and motherhood. Nevertheless in Gilead these notions are often viewed as separate. The Republic State of Gilead views women as child-bearers and nothing more. In Gilead, these women are known as handmaids, who’s function in society is to produce children for barren females of a high status. Gilead also prohibits the handmaids from being mothers to their previously born children, meaning before Gilead was created, for instance, Offred, who is separated from her daughter. Thus it is evident that Margaret Atwood generates a state that views birth only as growth in population rather than the beginning of a relationship between mother and child.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of The Handmaid's Tale

    1175 Words  | 3 Pages

    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. The proposal that the world described in The Handmaid’s Tale could be a vision of the future may seem far-fetched to some readers.

    Read More

More about Misogyny In The Handmaid's Tale

Open Document