The Handmaid's Tale: The Class Distinction and Function of Society based on Colour

1219 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Use of colors as symbols in the handmaid's tale

Imagine living in a world where the colour of your clothing gave away every detail about your life; how you lived, who you lived with and your role in society. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Attwood is a futuristic dystopian novel. It explores the reversal of women’s rights and depicts gender inequality within a frightening and controlled society characterized by the use of colour. Colour carries a strong message to the reader through the powerful significance of colour differences associated between genders, the characters’ clothing, symbolism, its use as a class designation, the intonation it has on one’s self, and others, and the existence of flower imagery.
In the Society of Gilead, people within a common distinction or group dress the same. The clothing that is worn by this particular group of people represents a status. Once you have been assigned a role, it is near impossible to change it. The role includes your position and your duties in the society. With this being set in stone the freedom has been taken away, essentially, forever. The roles of women are primarily based upon their ability to conceive. Women can be categorized as Handmaid’s Marthas, Wives, Aunts, and Econowives. The categorization of these women determines their social status, therefore determining their colour classifications. The colours chosen for women throughout the novel vary from red, light green, light blue, stripes of the three, and light brown. The similarity between these colours is that fact that they are all light. The light colours group women as one, but the individual colours completely separate them. Outfits of the women are light in colour to be interpreted as a lacking sign of power and stripping of rights. Everything for the women i...

... middle of paper ...

...d decrease as well, shown through the colouring of their clothing. “...[the] usual Martha’s dress, which is all green, like a surgeon’s gown... [Marthas put] put on the veil to go outside, but nobody much cares who sees the face of a Martha.” (Attwood 10) Marthas wear light green and when in public their faces are covered with white as well. This green represents the poverty of Marthas and their low social status compared to others. With it being stated that no one cares to see their face, the green truly does prove their low social status. Green could also symbolize jealous that they feel towards Handmaids as well because just like Wives they cannot bear children. Green is universally known as an environmental and clean colour. This too could be represented through the Marthas wearing green because it represents their duties and their function in society as maids.

Show More
Related

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

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel “The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood shows the way of life for women in the

    Read More

  • The Handmaid's Tale Women

    1185 Words  | 3 Pages

    The women are divided into functions and are identified by the colour of their dress. In chapter 5, Offred is walking down the streets of Gilead, reminiscing about the days she used to walk down the street wearing what she wanted to wear before she got taken away, and also thought about simple things such as how she was able to freely walk to the laundromat to wash her own clothes with her own soap. She informs the reader of her analysis of the different types of women in the Republic of Gilead: “There are other women with baskets, some in red, some in the dull green of the Martha's, some in the striped dresses, red and blue and green and cheap and skimp, that mark the women of the poorer men. Econowives, they're called. These women are not divided into functions. They have to do everything; if they can.” (Atwood, 5.5) The Handmaid’s— the bearer of children— wear red, the Martha’s, who are the housekeepers wear green, and the wives wear blue. Econ Wives are the only women who aren’t defined by the colour of their dress because they must do every function. Atwood is showing that the individuality and identities of these women have been completely taken away and are labelled by the clothing they are forced to

    Read More

  • Differences Between Harrison Bergeron And The Handmaid's Tale

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the Gilead society the government has attempted to remove the individuality of the citizens in many ways as seen in similarity to Harrison Bergeron with the use of the handicaps. Morano has made it so society is classified into a hierarchy with assigned uniforms of specific colours to display the role within society. The handmaids wear red to symbolise fertility, the 'Wives' wear blue, to display their inability to carry children. From Morano utilising costuming, he has made it so the citizens are defined only by their social and reproductive function, stripping each woman of their identity. Where as in Harrison Bergeron they have lost their individuality due to the fact they are trying to make society equal by handicapping those who are above average "They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal in every which way.” This results in the people losing their individ-uality and their humanity. In the Hand Maids Tale, like Morano did with the costuming everyone's identity has been stripped away as although some have more privileges, everyone has been renamed and repositioned “Offred is my name now.” Their loss of individualism is symbolised by their generic titles such as the men are classed as the 'Commanders,' and the ‘Eyes’ which is different to Harrison Bergeron’s society as they are not assigned to specific roles, but are still stripped of their individuality. The two authors have utilised individuality suppression to create societies that the citizens are inter-changeable and replaceable with each other, displaying an unfavourable

    Read More

  • The Color Purple And The Handmaid's Tale

    1600 Words  | 4 Pages

    In both The Color Purple, and The Handmaid’s Tale, Steven Spielberg and Margaret Atwood explore the everyday struggles faced by women within societies ruled by men. While The Color Purple is a film and The Handmaid’s Tale a book, both authors use techniques associated with their text type to explore the structures of the societies and how the societies can be damaging to the women within them. Setting is explored by both authors in different ways, as The Color Purple is based on events in US history, while The Handmaid’s Tale is an imagined future. The two authors have also used their respective protagonists as a narrative voice throughout their texts as a way to explore the injustice that the women face and to influence the audience to identify

    Read More

  • Moralistic Issues In The Handmaid's Tale

    989 Words  | 2 Pages

    Red cloaks, blue cloaks, green cloaks, men. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is like any dystopian future in that its themes are guided by the past. From Ender’s Game and Hunger Games to Fahrenheit 451, moralistic issues in society are challenged through the pages of these novels; The Handmaid's Tale is no exception. Made a handmaid to produce babies and curb a declining population, Offred transitions in her mental state through dramatic changes as she metamorphosizes from a women hesitant and resistant to her newfound role to one accepting of it, and new ideologies infiltrate her such as the honor of her position and the righteous, goodness of Iliad--a future society riddled with imperfections, where Offred now resides. She is a red, a

    Read More

  • The Handmaid's Tale: Societal Complacency

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

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

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    A housemaid is a concubine that is assigned to live with a Commander (of the Faith) and his Wife. The Handmaid’s role is to produces Keepers (babies that are born without any birth defects) for their host family. Housemaids are made to wear all red besides their nun like white wings that work as blinders. The red represents passion and sin that can be turned white by the cleansing power of God. Commanders are the patriarchal head of the house who have a duty to father children either by their Wife or a Handmaid if needed. “Not every Commander has a handmaid; some of their Wives have children. From each, says the slogan, according to her ability; to each according to his needs… It was from the Bible, or so they said. St. Paul… in Acts.” The Commanders wear black to show their superiority, as they are the highest on the social ladder. The Wives are at the top of the social ladder when it comes to women which gives them power over the other women: “…the transgressions of women in the household, whether Martha or Handmaid, are supposed to be under the jurisdiction of the Wives alone.” The Wives wear light blue to represent the Virgin Mary who is usually depicted in light blue in biblical artwork. The Handmaid’s are re-educated by women with the title of Aunts. The Marthas are women who do domestic work

    Read More

  • Representation of Colors in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale

    1784 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... responsible for conceiving and giving birth for a Commander and his wife wear red. The Commander's wives wear blue which is the most prestigious color worn by a woman. Guardians, as well as Martha's, wear green, which is not an authoritive color, putting them in a lower class. White is the color to be worn only by the virgin daughters until they are given to a soldier to marry. Econowives are wearing dresses that are mixed colors because they have multiple functions and little value. The Republic of Gilead believes in showing levels of hierarchy, by the color of clothing worn.

    Read More

  • Essay on The Handmaid's Tale as a Warning to Society

    934 Words  | 2 Pages

    Margaret Atwood's renowned science fiction novel, The Handmaid's Tale, was written in 1986 during the rise of the opposition to the feminist movement. Atwood, a Native American, was a vigorous supporter of this movement. The battle that existed between both sides of the women's rights issue inspired her to write this work. Because it was not clear just what the end result of the feminist movement would be, the author begins at the outset to prod her reader to consider where the story will end. Her purpose in writing this serious satire is to warn women of what the female gender stands to lose if the feminist movement were to fail. Atwood envisions a society of extreme changes in governmental, social, and mental oppression to make her point.

    Read More

  • Essay on A Society of Oppression in A Handmaid's Tale

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    Like the institution of slavery, women in Gilead were enslaved through biblical justifications. According to the Commanders, God intended the ultimate power to be in the hands of man, not only because man was created first, but also because it was woman's temptation that expelled them both from the Garden of Eden. Women, therefor, must be controlled by man. Slave traders and owners also justified the enslavement of Africans, arguing that slave labor existed extensively in the Bible (Jews were enslaved by the Egyptians, for example), and therefor God did not condemn the institution. Once a master acquires slaves, or a Handmaid, he must rule over them effectively, to assure that they will meet his needs. To so, the term "human" must be taken out of consideration (for that may evoke some sort of pity or compassion) and replaced with the term "it"--detonating property. This is clearly demonstrated when Offred reflects on the ...

    Read More

  • Class Discrimination in Gilead

    1196 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • essay 2

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, The main character of the story are classified by the title of “Handmaids”. A “Handmaid” is a fertile female who bares the right to reproduce for a wife. They are separated away from the rest and dressed differently so they can be identified. A “Handmaid” must wear all red, dress and gloves, with the exception of their white wigs. The Handmaid breaks the rule of freedom and women rights. In this text the women have no say so to what they want or need they have to go by life according to their title.

    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

  • 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

  • Relationship Between Men and Women: Jane Eyre and The Handmaid's Tale

    1786 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Handmaid’s Tale (Contemporary Classics). Journals Bertens, H. (2001) Literary Theory: The Basics, The Politics of Class: Marxism. Abingdon, Routledge. Sourced in AQA Critical Anthology LITB4/PM Issued September 2008.

    Read More

More about The Handmaid's Tale: The Class Distinction and Function of Society based on Colour

Open Document