The Women In The Handmaid's Tale

The women who posses the highest living standards in The Handmaid’s Tale are the Wives and, subsequently, the Daughters of the Commanders. However, with the high standard of living comes very little power. The Wives only have the power to manage their respective households, but the rest of their power lies in having the title of Wife. Most of the Wives are infertile, which is why their husbands are assigned a Handmaid. To make matters worse, the Wives are to be present at the impregnation ceremony each month. The Handmaid lies between the legs of the Wife, with her “head on [the wife’s] stomach” as the Ceremony proceeds. The Ceremony is humiliating for the Wife, who is unable to conceive, and the Handmaid, who is being forced to conceive. As Aunt Lydia tells the Handmaids, “you should always try to imagine what they [the Wives] must be feeling”, living with the knowledge that they cannot properly satisfy their wifely duties. As evidenced through Serena Joy, the wife of Offred’s Commander, the Wives in Gilead are bored. Prior to the rise of the Republic of Gilead, Serena Joy made public speeches about “the sanctity of the home, about how

They have been cast out into roles and places where they have minimal involvement with the Republic of Gilead’s inner circle. As every role in Gileadean society is based on the value and worth of a women’s sexuality and body. For example, anything but heterosexuality is deemed sinful and aligns people of other sexual preferences to roles in the colonies. The role of Unwomen is given to “women who could not or would not belong to [any of the hierarchical groups]”, they are discarded by society. Unwomen live in the Colonies where they are subject to “toxic dumps” and “radiation spills”. In the Colonies, Unwomen can work in agriculture or cleaning toxic waste, but either way, the Unwomen will never leave and will eventually die in the