In many ways, history can solely reinvent itself. Women's representation in modern times has shown development ever since, but there are still elements that contribute to societal misconceptions toward women. Margaret Atwood, the best-selling author of The Handmaid’s Tale, expresses the evolution and the possible fates to which women are subject. Through The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood portrays a representation of current anti-feminist viewpoints by reflecting current perspectives of pro-life stances, as well as recurring oppressions against women's economic growth and rights.
Margaret wrote it shortly after the US elections of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in Great Britain. During this time period, the religious conservatives criticized the “sexual revolution” of the 1960’s and 1970’s. This time period influenced The Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale).
In The Handmaid’s Tale, the oppression of women was the absolute first thing that stood out. The exposing of handmaids inabilities The women that were not able to produce babies such as Offred were sent to this Nazi type regimes called the colonies. There were Guardians or “secret police” watching all of the Handmaids at all times. The Republic of Gilead did something called “Men’s Salvaging”, which occurred when either men, but mostly women got penalized from doing something forbidden and they got hung and killed. Women weren’t able leave their households unless they were going shopping for food.
Cat Power’s “The Greatest” encompasses many of the themes of powerlessness in The Handmaid’s Tale. If we imagine the song coming from the point of view of Offred, or any handmaid, the song becomes a reflection on Gilead and its effects on the handmaid’s psyche. Offred reflects often on the past and in these reflections the beginning traces of Gilead, warning signs, are present. For example, a woman attempts to steal Offred’s daughter claiming that “the lord told her too” (find actual quote) (Atwood 72). Despite these warning signs Gilead still came as a surprise to Offred, a shock like the “rush of a flood”.
In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the protagonist, Offred, expresses her wish that her “story [is] different,” that it is “happier,” or at least “more active, less hesitant, less distracted” than it is ultimately portrayed (267). However, as her story is told, these characteristics are evident in the way she talks and acts, especially around those with authority. Hesitant to express her true thoughts and feelings, and distracted by memories from her previous life, Offred attempts to piece together her role in the society that has taken her freedom. The result is a compilation of moments, of memories, both from her present, her past, and even speculation about her future.
Since the beginning of time, vengeance or retribution has been part of the human condition. This is chiefly true in Aeschylus's trilogy the Oresteia. One of the underlying themes in these works is the concept of “an eye for an eye” (Hammurabi). Atreus and Thyestes start the blood feud of retribution when Atreus tricks Thyestes into consuming the cooked flesh of his own children. It is then that Agamemnon, son of Atreus, and Aegisthus, the only surviving son of Thyestes, open up this series of misfortunate events as seen in the trilogy.
“No woman can call herself free who does not control her own body”. When Margaret Sanger spoke these words, she was expressing her belief on a woman’s right to have an abortion. This quote, however, speaks to the fact that women are oppressed on more than just abortions. In the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Atwood portrays the dehumanization of sexuality through both the characters and events within the novel, therefore proving that women will always be considered less than men will. Margaret Atwood was born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1939.
In face of severe situation, people often feel relief when they think of happier, simpler times in order to alleviate the severity. In the fiction novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, a theocracy government controls every aspect of life in order to produce the best result of its plans. At the beginning of chapter 12, Offred takes a required, but luxurious bath because she can take off the burdensome wings and veils. While she bathes, Offred remembers her daughter from the past and a time with her family. Atwood compares Offred’s past and present through imagery, tone, similes, and symbolism combined with parallel structure to highlight the vulnerability of women to their surroundings.
Often, we see a society’s cultural values reflected in its citizens. For example, the United States values equality, a standard that is shared in all facets including gender. The opposite is true of Gilead, a fictional society in Emily Bronte’s The Handmaid’s Tale. The novel’s main character, Offred, is subjected to degrading treatment simply because she is a woman. It becomes apparent that this repeated degradation has affected the protagonist’s mind.
The men in position of authority in The Handmaid's Tale are expected to be the primary providers for their households, and any failure to provide for their families can lead to punishment. They are trapped in a system that limits their ability to pursue their own interests and desires, and any deviation from their prescribed roles is seen as a threat to the stability of the regime. The strict gender roles limit men's ability to express their emotions and desires, reducing them to mere providers and protectors. A quote, spoken by the antagonist the commander: "Better never means better for everyone... It always means worse, for some."
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.
Throughout history, women have often been subjected to prejudice and an inferior status to men. Due to sexist ideologies of men believing that women are not capable of controlling their own lives, women have often been reduced to the status of property. This concept is prominent in many pieces of literature to demonstrate the struggles women have to go through in a predominantly, male structured world. In the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, the author illustrates a woman’s battle in an extreme society ruled by men to express the misogyny occurring in the time period when it was written, 1894. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia summarizes Atwood’s story as one that “depicts one woman’s chilling struggle to survive in a society ruled by misogynistic fascism, by which women are reduced to the condition of property.”
Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), presents several controversial yet realistic themes that can be linked to many social justice issues in today’s society. One central point that is highlighted throughout the novel is the objectification of women. In Atwoods novel women transition from normal citizens in society, to baby birthing machines. Women no longer acquire the respect, authority, freedom, and power that men have in the world of Gilead. This objectification that the handmaids are exposed to can be seen all throughout our environment, and there is no limit to where it can occur.
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.
The subject I was drawn to the most about The Handmaid’s Tale was the rape culture. The Handmaids duty is to bear the children for the Wives but what is also interesting is that the Handmaids are raped daily by the Commanders (The Wives’ husbands) Rape is primarily the main focus of the story besides forced child bearing and the male dominating world they live in. Rape culture is something that is very apparent in the story because on chapter 16, the narrator describes the Ceremony in which the Commander rapes her while Serena Joy ( his wife) lays on the bed with her legs spread open and has to engage in the Ceremony as well. The handmaids are have no say in what goes on or else they are killed. Rape victims are so scared to come forward
