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The Handmaid's Tale Research Paper

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The Oppression of Women: Real Life or Fiction? In history women have fallen victim to the inferiority of men. This is present in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and also in today’s society. The struggles of women are a result of men believing that they can retain power over women and their rights. The Handmaid’s Tale gives us very good examples of this. Women of today can all too well relate to this. In this paper I will be discussing issues that women face such as men’s power over women, their rights and freedom; along with general labeling tactics that women fall victim to in today’s society along with The Handmaid’s Tale. Women are often characterized as fragile beings by some aspects of society. This is strongly shown in The Handmaid’s …show more content…

The categories are represented by colors. The Handmaid’s wear red. The red represents fertility, menstruation, and childbirth; which is everything a Handmaid is known for. The Handmaid’s realize this connection too. The narrator says “Everything except the wings around my face is red: the color of blood, which defines us” (8). The Wives wear blue. Blue normally represents virginity and purity, which is an ironic twist because it is qualities that the wives do not possess. The Commanders wear black. Black represents authority and power. The Commanders wearing this color is an example of their power over Gilead. The Martha’s wear green. Green often represents jealously which is the feelings between the Martha’s and the Handmaid’s. These colors can relate to the colors women are identified for in today’s society. Red is a color that represents blood, which is what women are known for essentially. This is also seen as a “sexy” color; when women wear red they are more sexually objectified. Green still represents jealously. Blue is known for wisdom and purity; the Virgin Mary is often connected with the color blue. The color black represents the same thing it does in the novel, power. Men who are in high positions wear black suits, showing off their

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Since times immemorial, women have been the target of oppression and are forced to lead a controlled life. The Hippocratic male dominated society has hardly left any stone unturned in opposing the concept of empowerment of women. The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood is a detailed illustration of the helplessness and miseries of the major character who finds herself in painful compulsive situations leading her to lose her identity.

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In The Handmaid’s Tale, the novel critiques gender inequality and autocratic authority. The hierarchical class of men consists of Commanders, Angels, and Guardians. In particular, the Commanders are the highest-ranking social group in Gileadean society. The Commanders are represented as powerful men. They have leadership roles, autocratic governance, and are oppressors controlling the Gilead regime.

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1378 Words | 6 Pages

The present paper focusses on Atwood’s widely acclaimed and thought provoking novel ‘‘The Handmaid’s Tale’’(1985)focused on the theme of the domination and ruthless governing of women by men. The novel presents a world where freedom of women is impeded on account of the new Christian Government’s extreme policies. It portrays a futuristic picture of the new republic that throws away the U.S. Constitution and establishes the Republic of Gilead in which women are viewed only as reproductive machines. Portraying females as the leading characters, and environmental crisis as its background, the novel depicts people suffering from tragic environmental pollution in a totalitarian country. It is a place where the females are forced into a submissive position leading the whole society fall into abnormality.

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