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Handmaid's Tale: An Ultra-Misogynistic Dystopia

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In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Gilead, an ultra-misogynistic dystopia, has taken over what can be assumed to be the United States. Women are separated into categories based on their age, fertility, and general use to the regime. Any women who does not fit the qualifications for any of the categories or violates rules against sexual activity is deemed an Unwomen and sent to the a supposedly treacherous place known as the “Colonies”. Men are also forbidden from having sexual relations unless given position of Commander, a rank that seems to hold the most power and privilege in society. The systematic oppression of these people is surrounded by religious justifications and biblical references. This is ironic because the promises made …show more content…

One of their methods of control is instilling a sense religious obligation into the Handmaids, stating a case based on monotheistic beliefs. Gilead, however, picks and chooses which aspects of religion they enforce in order to protect its vision. Aunt Lisa admonishes the Handmaids against inappropriate interactions with men because, “They can’t help it... God made them that way, but He did not make you that way. He made you different. It’s up to you to set the boundaries. Later you will be thanked,”(Atwood 45). By setting this precedent, she is saying that men are not responsible for controlling their sexuality. While the Bible does stress that women are obligated to remain chaste and not tempt men, it also lays out sexual boundaries that men are to respect, like refraining from masturbation and extramarital sex. The Handmaids are also told that , “The Republic of Gilead....knows no bounds. Gilead is within you,”(Atwood 23), as if Gilead is God, a higher power that the Bible suggests is in all human beings. This shifts the Handmaid's’ responsibility from loyalty to God to loyalty to government. This is yet another area where Gilead abuses biblical text in order to justify its

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1351 Words | 6 Pages

In the beginning she talks about how throughout the centuries women have been slaves to men’s desires and philosophies. She evens relates men’s hold of women as the “shackles of slavery”. “We now know that there never can be a free humanity until woman is freed from ignorance, and we know, too, that woman can never call herself free until she is mistress of her own body. Just so long as man dictates and controls the standards of sex morality, just so long will man control the world” (pg.2).

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The Commander’s ease of speech suggests this is common knowledge amongst Gilead men, that their power allows them to dictate what is natural and what is not. Conversely, Atwood is subtly commenting on the weakness of these men, they give in to every urge and desire which leads to a society founded on corruption as their selfishness drives them to go to great lengths to have their needs met whether it be through the accumulation of material items such as magazines or unauthorised sex. Atwood enforces this through the chilling phrase spoken by Moira, a handmaid now forced to be a prostitute as punishment for her failed rebellion, as she says her outfit is “government issue”. This is the first and only time such widespread corruption is explicitly mentioned and demonstrates that Gilead was founded, and runs on corruption as the government breaks its own rules in order to fulfil the desires of men on the pretence of abiding to nature. With this quote, Atwood is highlighting the point that only men like Commanders can be corrupt, women are supposed to follow the rules and in truth they are not part of the regime for the purposes of procreation but to be used as a variable for male

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181 Words | 1 Pages

In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, ‘The Commander’ is the head of the household where his handmaid Offred lives. They live in a society where women are oppressed, and men rule. The commander inaugurates an inappropriate relationship with his handmaid throughout the novel, and on page 243 the two characters share a significant moment. The quote above in which the commander is speaking to Offred, he attempts to depict, justify, and make clear of the reasons and the framework behind Gilead clear to Offred. He explains a mans inability to feel emotion in their past lives, and how they created Gilead in order to restore human emotion.

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490 Words | 2 Pages

, this quote gives an example of just how much dominance the men had. Girls acquired how to act from their mother. The women were strictly in charge of cleaning the house and being the spiritual leaders of the house. It was their responsibility to see that their family attended church every week. The women were involuntary subordinate to the men of that day.

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1091 Words | 5 Pages

She says that her mother wanted a women’s culture, and acknowledges that Gilead has given them this, but by corrupting the

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643 Words | 3 Pages

The Handmaids must submit to their Commanders as they hold the dominant role. The Handmaids are also sacrificing their bodies and fertility to their Commander and his wife in order to give them a child. They have all been renamed with names that signify the Commanders they serve: Offred, Ofglen, Ofcharles, Ofwarren, etc. These names show the Commanders’ possession of the Handmaids. In The Handmaid’s Tale, sex symbolizes the Handmaid’s sacrifice and submission and the Commanders domination and control over the Handmaids in

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1184 Words | 5 Pages

“You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it,” is one of many quotes made by Robin Williams, but the most important. What Robin Williams means when he says this is we all have that thing inside of us that will make us great and we should try our best to keep it, whatever it is, so it doesn’t get away from us. This is an important message because it pertains to everyone no matter who you are or where you come from. Robin Williams had the gift of being able to make people laugh.

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978 Words | 4 Pages

He has the duty to impregnate his handmaid Offred. He plays a hypocritical character because even though he creates the rules he breaks them. For example, the place he takes Offred wearing a lingerie, “‘What do you think of our little club?’”(Atwood 236). It was more of a brothel and he only took her to the so he could have the freedom to have sexual intercourse with her without having to restrain himself from showing pleasure and without his wife invading the room. Him having to act like he doesn’t take pleasure in having sexual intercourse made him take these measures.

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Some of these methods include destroying identity through classification, objectification, and indoctrination. Most women of Gilead are sufficiently repressed that they seem to accept their assigned roles, at least outwardly resigned to their fate. Atwood uses gender roles in The Handmaid’s Tale to show the lengths to which misogynistic totalitarian governments will go, to protect their dictatorships. The Republic of Gilead is a hierarchical society which requires complete submission of women to men. By taking away women’s paid jobs, confiscating their property, draining their bank accounts, and giving them no recourse, the male leadership leaves women in a fully dependent and subservient position.

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783 Words | 4 Pages

“What it really means is that she is in control of the process and thus the product. If any.” (109). The society of Gilead wants to make sure that the child is the Commander’s wife’s child as much as possible, and they believe that by having Serena Joy hold the hands of Offred, then that is possible. In this way, Offred, and all of the other Handmaid’s are sexually dehumanized.

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996 Words | 4 Pages

Handmaid’s whom are the fertile women in the Gilead society, are stripped from all freedom and rights, banned from knowing any form of literature and have to be submissive to men, allowing their bodies to be sexually used to produce children. In contrast, women who are not fertile such as Wives have their freedom taken away too as they are confined to doing assigned jobs around the house. In contrast, the Aunts and the Commanders are shown to have the highest rankings in the Gileadean society. They are powerful figures, with privileges such as the Aunts being allowed to read and write and the Commanders being permitted to get married and have a handmaid's assigned to

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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.

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807 Words | 4 Pages

How would you feel if you were controlled by a society? In the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, Gilead is a dystopian society where people are told what to do and what not to do. Margaret Atwood demonstrates that restricted expression leads to rebellious actions by showing the rules being broken by the Commanders and Offred’s relationship as it’s developing. Although, society tells them they are restricted to certain actions, they disregard these rules and do what they desire.

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988 Words | 4 Pages

The subjugation of women is evident in the Gilead system as each Commander is given a handmaid whose name is “Of” the Commander’s name. Handmaids have no identity of their own and are similar to sex slaves at the mercy of

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1472 Words | 6 Pages

Atwood connects the political events to show how Gilead gained control and keeps their control by establishing fear into the women. Gilead stays in control by limiting speech to religious references, keeping the women from talking about the oppression they are suffering. Additionally, women are blamed for the social issues that were present in a pre-Gilead society such as rape, abortion and adultery. Women get the blame for the issues and men do not suffer consequences since it is in their nature to cheat. Atwood uses allusions to the Old Testament and historical events to satirize the oppression of women in political, religious and social

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