ipl-logo

Gender Roles In The Handmaid's Tale

775 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Roles in the handmaid's tale

Stories portray groups of people and even societies differently. Stories also let you view things through different perspectives and they give you the opportunity to have an opinion. It may even change the way you view the certain role of people or society. In the novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, men are given the upper hand by the government of Gilead. Although men seem to be dominant over females, they all are controlled by an oppressive government of Gilead. In Gilead, men have different roles from women. Their roles are Angels, Eyes, Guardians, and Commanders. The roles make men higher than women in social status. The Commander's role in Gilead is to demand the Guardians, Eyes, and Angels to look out for the handmaid's who violate Gilead's rules. One of the Commander’s duty is to have sexual relations with the handmaids with his own wife present. For Instance, “This is not recreation, even for the Commander. This is serious business. The Commander, too, is doing his duty,”(95). The Guardians role is to follow up with what the Commander orders them to assist with, over time they upgrade to a higher rank as an Angel. The Angels are the second highest ranking role after the Commander. They are allowed to get married and they protect the surroundings in Gilead. The Eyes are the second eyes for the Commander they are who …show more content…

The government is oppressive and very demanding. Thus, creating a passive society in which everyone has an order to follow by the government without contradicting them. There are consequences to actions for example, “ This man, ”says Aunt Lydia,” has been convicted of rape.” Her voice trembles with rage, and a kind of triumph. “He was once a Guardian. He has disgraced his uniform. He has abused his position of trust” (278). Two Guardians broke the rules of Gilead, so they were both executed. The government is harsh and strictly goes by their

Show More
Related
636 Words | 3 Pages

Men and women both serve the ruler of the clan. Men served the king with their military services, while women served the king with their domestic services. Both provide peace and keep their clan protected from opposing forces. Women have the role of mediator of peace through their role of mead maid, while men protect the clan from threats of impending violence through their militaristic efforts. The roles that men and women had in Viking society were both of the utmost importance to the continued stability of their

Read More
996 Words | 4 Pages

When analyzing the characters of the Handmaid's Tale and the Scarlet Letter through the feminist lense, sexism has become so internalized that women work to maintain the system through prejudice and belittling one another for not fulfilling orthodox gender roles.

Read More
1341 Words | 6 Pages

(83). But when the Gilead was made and she was forced to stay home “She stays in her home, but it does not seem to agree with her.” (84). Serena Joy who was once a star and active speaker fell to the oppression towards female in the time of the Gilead. Her personality changed as well, one would think she is a loyal to her husband but offered Offred to have sex with Nick.

Read More
678 Words | 3 Pages

Handmaids are subjected to specific gender roles in the women community. Each women in the community has a certain job that most men assume is the woman 's job. Handmaids are for the use of reproduction and there is suppose to be no emotion or spiritual connection with these ladies. Martha’s who are used for cooking and cleaning among the house and lastly, jezebels who are used for erotic sex. Each of these women who fall among the categories have no choice of their field.

Read More
1410 Words | 6 Pages

It is narrated by the protagonist, Offred who is a handmaid forced into sexual servitude. Facing a plunging birth rate, the fundamentalist regime treats women as property of the state. Handmaids are the few of the remaining fertile women and their sole purpose is to help the government into re-populating their society, where a lot of people are left sterile. The Handmaid’s Tale deals with the theme of women in subjugation to misogyny in a patriarchal society, primarily. It shows the struggle that women have to go through in that society, as a Handmaid or as not being able to be one.

Read More
480 Words | 2 Pages

However, in Gilead the main idea was to make lives to keep your own. Also, in Gilead men and women had specific roles, responsibilities, and freedoms but in Panem there were no specifically clear roles separated for men and

Read More
1620 Words | 7 Pages

Although written 100 years earlier, this is also seen in the novel, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy, because both authors show the oppression of women through the experiences the characters go through and the means of survival they use. The two novels, The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, and Tess of the D’Urbervilles, by Thomas

Read More
1035 Words | 5 Pages

Thirdly, the classification of women into different classes prevents them from identifying their upmost enemy: masculine power. The relationship between the different groups of women creates a powerful atmosphere of suppression. In fact, Gilead promotes the act of woman against woman. Wives and Aunts controls and enforces the disciplines of the patriarchal society to other women, so one can clearly see that even women takes advantage of power. For example, Serena Joy, the Commander’s Wife who lives in vain hope for traditional womanhood, is the true traitor against women.

Read More
996 Words | 4 Pages

Handmaids are fertile women who are to be impregnated by the Commander or Angel they are assigned to.

Read More
1122 Words | 5 Pages

Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, argues that women are instruments of the patriarchy, that women know this, and that women allow the system of oppression to live on. Her fictions ask, “What stories do women tell about themselves? What happens when their stories run counter to literary conventions or society’s expectations?” (Lecker 1). The Handmaid’s Tale is told through the protagonist, Offred, and allows readers to follow through her life as a handmaid while looking back on how life used to be prior to the societal changes.

Read More
649 Words | 3 Pages

These views can be seen in the Handmaids themselves because traditionally the lives of husbands and wives are very private, but by introducing Handmaids, the idea of privacy is destroyed. For example, the Ceremony, which is how Handmaids conceive their children, is something the whole household is a part of, which is quite a change from how things were done before the regime was put in place. Another liberal idea in The Handmaid’s Tale was Jezebel’s, a place where women could work for very little money as prostitutes instead of becoming Handmaids or being sent to the Colonies as punishment. This is a liberal idea because in such a strict society one would not think such an establishment would be allowed, especially because so many Commanders know about it. Also in the novel are feminist beliefs that run society.

Read More
1008 Words | 5 Pages

cultural constructs of femininity, identity, and the extent of government control. The story explores the affects social and political trends have on society. The Handmaid’s Tale evaluates gender roles and the subjugation of women. Atwood’s use of aphorisms, symbolism, and allusions urges readers to examine the juxtaposition of cruelty and vulnerability in femininity.

Read More
1304 Words | 6 Pages

The Handmaid’s Tale Essay-How does Atwood’s portrayal of women compare to modern conceptions of women? “I avoid looking down at my body, not so much because it’s shameful or immodest but because I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to look at something that determines me so completely” (Atwood pg.82). This is a quote that the narrator and main character of the book (Offred) says as two other women give her her bath. How hard does a woman’s life have to be that she wouldn’t even want to look at her body.

Read More
988 Words | 4 Pages

In the 1980s, United States was experiencing the rise of conservatism. Under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, conservative religious groups were gaining popularity. In response to the social and political landscape, Canadian author Margaret Atwood published a fictional novel The Handmaid’s Tale in 1986; a genre of dystopian novels. The storyline projects an imaginary futuristic world where society lives under oppression and illusion of a utopian society maintained through totalitarian control. Dystopian novels often focus on current social government trends and show an exaggeration of what happens if the trends are taken too far.

Read More
102 Words | 1 Pages

Miranda Roelandt POMS Type: 2 The point of most significance in the article On Being the Right Size by J.B.S Haldane, is that the size of animals, when it comes to their design, has advantages and disadvantages. In my lifetime, I have had a variety of animals; hamsters, guinea pigs, lizards… you name it. When comparing my current rodent, a guinea pig, with my past hamsters, I concluded that the hamster’s small frame made it easier for it to jump off of my bed onto the floor and remain unscathed. My guinea pig, on the other hand, would have severely injured

Read More

More about Gender Roles In The Handmaid's Tale

Related Topics

Open Document