Red In The Handmaids Tale

The novel ‘The Handmaids’s Tale’ written by Margaret Atwood focuses on this superficial world where women are inferior to men. In the society of Gillead women are there to serve a purpose, whether its to be a wife and tend to the garden and house, or a handmaid who is used only to get pregnant by the commander and to bear the surrogate child for the housewife. This society in Gilead is completely dominated by the male species, and as readers one can only assume it is written around the troubles at Gillead to show the audience the dangers of how mens marginalisation of women is very real and how dangerous it could be in our society today.

In Gilead women are split in to categories and are divided by colour. Each colour serves a purpose in society,

However blue is also a cold colour which could represent the cold personality of the wives towards females in Gilead society. The Handmaid’s are forced to wear unflattering red dresses that cover their whole body, Atwood uses red for the Handmaids tale to symbolise fertility, and could be the blood of the menstrual cycle of the Handmaids which is their purpose in Gilead. However the colour red could also be seen as sexual, as the handmaids are forced to have sex with their commanders, however it is also related to anger and aggression which can symbolise the handmaids anger and hatred towards their bodies. used for the commanders to impregnate and bear the surrogate child for the housewives. The Handmaid’s in Gillead are taught not to associate with one another, this meaning they are unable to to generate a greater force to fight against the men in the Gillead society. Serena Joy, the commanders wife is heavily influenced by her husbands authority in Gillead. When first meeting Offred she comments “I want to see you as little as possible“, this instantly makes Serena Joy superior to Offred, purely due to her husbands authority. As the audience we can see that by this scene and commentary, Atwood is telling us that women in society are becoming to dependant on the male and take their space in the societal hierarchy by where their male husband

This novel is focused around the idea of men marginalising women, however to a certain extent it is happening in our society today. Each women, either Offred, Moira, Serena Joy or Aunt Lydia portray some kind of feminism in one way or another. Although through the characters of Aunt Lydia and Serena Joy we see how they conform to the rules of Gillead without any resistance, one can assume Atwood does this to demonstrate how brainwashed women will become if they do not have a brain of their own or think for themselves. These two women are only two examples of the many in the society of Gillead that conform, and as the audience we see the consequences from this. Atwood has centred the novel around this to warn the readers of the things women are becoming to do more regularly.

To conclude Atwood’s novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” is centred around the horrifying extent of men marginalisation of women. Atwood has shown the consequences of this to such an extent to show the world just what society looks like. If women continue to accept that they are ‘inferior’ to males. Atwood also shows that women are extremely powerful when they unite as one to become this great force. As the audience we can assume that Atwood