Feminism in the novel The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood is a prominent theme. This novel represents the morals and horrors of a vision of feminism, which is sometimes taken to the extremes. Women’s rights have been downgraded and as a result of this women are used to bear children and are constantly watched by the eye. The Handmaids are considered powerful figures in the novels’ society while living in a dystopia of cultural feminism, which cause them to be degraded women with a loss of identity. The powerful figures in The Handmaids Tale would be considered the Commander’s wives or the Aunts. Gilead could be represented as a hierarchy with the Commander wives at the top of the pyramid. Beneath the top of the pyramid would be the Aunts, and then the Handmaids, which the novel is centered around. The Aunts makes the rules that the Handmaids have to abide by strictly. The Aunts are the central power figure and the authority figures at the center. They have the control to change the rules, persecute the Handmaids and use their power of supervision to the extremes. The Aunts do have somewhat of a leniency to do what they want, however they cannot be careless because they need to have good morals and set a good example for the Handmaids. The eye is also watching them and the Handmaids. The world of Gilead could be compared to a democratic government where the Aunts would be the governors and the Commanders wives would be the Prime Ministers. The Aunts are supervisory figures at this center where all these women live. The featured Aunt of this novel is Aunt Lydia, she supervises the women. Aunt Lydia also voices her opinion to the women about how women should be solely concerned with conceiving children and about other be... ... middle of paper ... ... considered a sisterhood where they look out for each other and support each other. They hope or may even pray that one gets a chance to bear the Commanders child. The feminism is taken to the extremes with coinciding sex, secrecy escaping rights. Overall, Gilead is not a feminist society since women’s rights were taken away as a result of dehumanization and oppression of women. There is more a vision or hope of feminism that is present. The women try to lives there lives with some happiness and freedom, however it is hard since they are constantly watched by either the Aunts or the eye and have to abide strict rules. There is no form of pleasure allowed and the woman want to bear the Commanders child. The women don’t seem like they to hold a protest, they seem content with their lives. They just have to remember “nolite te bastardes carborundorum. (Atwood, Ch.29)”
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.
Forming everyday life in different ways. Majority of all power in Gilead has been passed to the men and
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.
...hat it was the women participation that allowed the government to regulate every aspect of their public and private lives. Women such as the Aunts especially Aunt Lydia where willing participants in the republic by indoctrinating women to the new way of life. The women became the eyes and ears to the government, condemning other women who don't follow the laws. If the women had the strength to rebel they might not have been able to change much but, at least they were taking a stand on what they believed in. The government had such control on every aspect through rules, conduct and rituals that were followed by the people with little to no questions by the people. That is why I feel that Societal Complacency played such a role in the success of the Republic of Gilead.
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...
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.
Thanks to the commander, she also meets Moira, her long time friend from Gilead. This act of resistance from the commander brings Offred a lot and if he were caught, would face serious charges. Both men and women are severely controlled throughout everyday life in "The Handmaid's Tale. " Recreation is minimal, sexual intercourse is purely for creation, and the nuclear family is a thing of the past. Elizabeth Atwood provides a dystopian world full of wrongdoing, manipulation and emotional numbness stemming from a government in Gilead that controls all aspects of life for its people.
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,
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.
Even the Commander, one of the founders of Gilead, is aware of the lack of freedom caused by complacency, which suggests that complacency is intrinsically detrimental. “Better never means better for everyone, he says. It always means worse, for some” (211). The Commander shows that, unlike Aunt Lydia, he is aware of the fact that Gilead has declined the quality of women’s lives. However, he remains concerned with what he believes to be the way to better society as a whole, which is the complacency of those whose lives have been
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.
While The Handmaid's Tale conveys the oppression of women, it also reveals the significant role women have in society. Atwood gets the point across that just as they can be oppressed by men, women can equally oppress themselves. Through Offred's eyes, comparisons between today's society and the possible consequences of one's attitudes are examined. The Handmaid's Tale slowly uncovers the many facets of women and the vital role they have as members of society.
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.
Within Gilead there is an authority that is much higher than is necessary or healthy for any nation. With such power comes corruption, which then spreads throughout the whole of society, slowly obliterating the nation’s people. This corruption of a powerful government can only be controlled by the force of the people which, in the Handmaid’s tale, is nearly non-existent, thus giving the militant Eyes – as well as the rest of the Gilead government – a stronger hold on the people by their indifference. The Eyes especially have an intimidating vigor which holds down the people by means of threat of punishment, in addition to the allusion of freedom to keep the people pacified. As stated in the novel, “A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze.” (Atwood 165). This shows how the government keeps ultimate control over the nation by way of intimidation, allusion, and roles in society. Status and class is vital in Gilead, showing the world who one is by their uniform, speaking louder than any voice. Of course, Gilead has given these roles in the society as another way to control the people, but due to their passivity, everyone decides to go along with it, never questioning the power of this supposed republic. This goes to illustrate just how corrupt a government can be if not frequently checked by its
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