The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood Analysis

1.1. Background to the Study

It is not easy to go through Margaret Atwood’s writing without thinking of Canada and of women (Fiamengo, 11). Atwood isalways afraid of losing her country/identity: 'We need to know about here (Canada) because here is where we (Canadians) live ' (Survival, 19). Margaret Atwood (1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, critic and dramatist. She creates literature to embody how Canada and women are humiliated and defeated (Grace, 1980). Canada is a country made up of different ethnicities of the Natives, the English, and the French. It has suffered a lot because of the atrocities of divergent colonization. The influences of this ownership has not only on military and materialistic fields, but also deepened its roots

Her women, as well as countries, are displaced and exterritorial and women 's weak bodies and fertile lands are being conquered and raped. The female body is colonized by repeated pregnancy (Clara in The Edible Woman), rape (Offred in The Handmaid 's Tale), and traditional sex (Anna in Surfacing). Women are double colonized, as their bodies are by men and their psychology victimized by the society. In Survival (1972) Atwood says, 'Stick a pin in Canadian literature at random, and nine times out of ten you 'll hit a victim ' (39). She represents four basic victim positions, which include ‘denying victimization, acquiescing in victimization, repudiating victimization, and becoming a creative non-victim '(Survival, 19). In the first position of victim, her women deny their victimization as they are little better off than the other in the group, and so are afraid of losing the privileges they possess. In the second position, though the fact of being a victim is acknowledged, the responsibility for it is transferred to something vast nebulous and unchangeable. The third position is pro-active and dynamic as it is about rebellion and definite decision. A person in this position may move progressively to position four or slip back in regression to position two. In the fourth position, there is liberation of one’s self from the oppressor. By becoming a creative

These inherited the assumptions of New Criticism and liberal humanism as dominant modes of thinking and receiving literature (Aragay, 12). One of the first theoreticians of film adaptation was George Bluestone. In his Novels into Film (1957), Bluestone clued-up about the differences between the two media. He perceived distinction in the linguistics of literature and the visual essence of film-presentation. The problem of fidelity stands important in this regard. The idea of "fidelity" to the prior text is often driven by the directly comparative method of study. Hutcheon argues that there are many and varied motives behind adaptation and few involve faithfulness (13). According to Thomas Leitch in The Oxford Handbook of Adaptation Studies (2017), one of the starting points of a way forward (as a follow-up to Hutcheon’s formulations) is to consider adaptation as an autonomous act and not to focus only on source texts. Hutcheon‘s theoretical perspective is both “formal” and “experiential” which helps to dig out different aspects from both mediums. A close analysis of Jutra 's film foregrounds the distinctive cinematic qualities and the response it has received from reviewers and