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Women In The Handmaid's Tale

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A work of speculative fiction, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale introduces a totalitarian theocracy established after the fall of the United States government. In an effort to stop the readily available amounts of prostitution, porn, and violence directed towards women, The Republic of Gilead rose to power, and with that uprising, women were stripped of their basic privileges. Throughout the novel, the protagonist Offred recalls events and flashbacks of her early life before the conversion of the society to a Catholic theocracy.
Set in the early United States, roughly around 2045, The Republic of Gilead is controlled by an elite group of men. In this elitist society, a caste system, furthered by fertility, classifies the women of Gilead: …show more content…

For a society that was built on a goal of controlling reproduction after pollution and chemical spills led to radiation sickness which caused a decline in fertility rates, fertility was one of biggest influencers of Gilead’s caste system. For sterile women living in the Republic of Gilead, perhaps the most fortunate they could get was to be married to an man of power and status. Otherwise, the next best alternative for a sterile woman was to serve as a servant. In Gilead, two servant positions are granted to infertile women. Servants known as “Aunts,” worked to educate and train the fertile women in their road to becoming a handmaid, and “Marthas,” worked at an elite family’s home, serving as either housekeepers or cooks. Women who had followed Gilead’s rigid rules and could still bear children were selected to become handmaids. Besides being classed based on a woman's ability to bear a child, women who did not qualify for either of the four roles, either due to their “economic status or perceived ungodliness,” were deemed as individuals who held no value and were sent to the Colonies, a vast wasteland. The women sent to the Colonies are powerless, and if their position were lowered, they were branded “Unwomen,” and banished from all societies. The status of “Unwomen” were granted to women who defied the rules of the society; their reluctance in marriage or their refusal and

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(Atwood 187). Although Handmaids experience oppression by the Gilead regime, Atwood emphasizes the importance of unity and collaboration in the face of difficulties. The government of Gilead presents how hypocritical their society is toward women’s rights since the government uses a form of manipulation to make the Handmaid’s circumstances more tolerable. Additionally, Offred expresses how women do not have a right to their bodies because of the power others have over them as Offred states “I am abject” (Atwood 331). Offred expresses the removal of her individuality, autonomy, and basic human rights.

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It is now a cruel and sexist place where women are taught that “it [is] best not to speak unless they ask you a direct question” (Atwood 14), and had little educational rights, where even “writing in any case is forbidden” (Atwood 39). As philosopher and scientist, Francis Bacon once said, Knowledge is power; thus the people of the Republic of the Gilead purposefully took away education from women to prevent any possible power they could acquire. By taking away their education, and therefore their power, women are left with “no chance for upward mobility, only down,” says an analysis expert on The Handmaid’s Tale (Garbato). This

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In Margaret Atwood’s book, The Handmaid’s Tale, the basis on which Gilead rises is that of utilitarianism, with every person supposedly living to serve the greater good. The Republic of Gilead uses religious extremism to objectify women and oppress the women with archaic traditions. The duties of the ruling class are performed solely by men. Commanders are at the very top of the hierarchical pyramid and have the power to make every decision in Gilead. Women are second-class citizens in Gilead and, with the exception of the Wives and Daughters of the Commanders, have the role of serving the ruling class.

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In the beginning of the novel The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, Atwood immediately captures our attention by focusing on women’s freedom and humanity being taken away, especially that of the protagonist Offred. In the novel, Offred narrates the story of her life in part of the country that used to be the United States, but now it is called Gilead, a country that denies the freedom of individuals, especially women. The regime is a nightmarish reality where the women are forced into specific roles: The Handmaids, who have to conceive and carry the commanders’ children and wear a uniform that consists a red dress with white bonnet; the Wives, married to the commanders, are infertile and wear blue dresses to show their status; the Marthas, older women who serve as domestic servants in green attire; the aunts train the Handmaids for their role; and the Econowives who have a lower status, and do everything for themselves, but still have Offred’s (Of Fred) name signifies her role as a Handmaid, showing she belongs to a commander named Fred.

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No totalitarian regime can be successful without the help of the submissive part. According to “The Feminist History Reader”, one of the way that patriarchy is reinforced is by women’s colluding in the system “The oppression of women could not have endured so long and in so many places without their cooperation” (Morgan 67). Women’s complicity can be seen in Gilead as act of spying and supporting the system. For example, women spy on each other. Janine accept to spy on other handmaids to help Aunt Lydia to find Moira.

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Fife High School “The Handmaid’s Tale” Margaret Atwood’s unique interpretation of Oppression and Rebellion Brooke Mittelstaedt Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Period 5 Mr. Giddings 19 May 2023 The Republic of Gilead, which was previously a democratic system, is depicted in Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" as having evolved into a totalitarian state. Due to the declining birth rate, the fundamentalist government that rules the new order of "Gilead" treats women like property and uses them to produce more human beings. The hierarchy calls these women “handmaids” to justify their so-called Biblical beliefs.

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What would become of the world, if our current societal flaws, such as sexism, racism, and classism were ingrained and executed at a systematic level? This is exactly what The Handmaid’s Tale set out to explore. The novel, which claims to be speculative fiction, is set in the theocratic Republic of Gilead (formerly the USA), where birth rates are rapidly declining and women have been marginalized by the patriarchal regime, forbidden to read, write or love and valued only if they are able to procreate. They are separated into classes, including Wives, Marthas, Aunts, Unwomen, and Handmaids, distinguishable only by the color of their clothing. The Handmaids are renamed by combining ‘of’ and the name of the Commander that they have been assigned to, stripping them of any individuality.

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For instance these Upper class men, commanders, use handmaids to reproduce because their “wives” can no longer reproduce. In Gilead, women are only faulty and so if they cannot become fertile or produce a viable child then they get shipped off even though the men could

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Women in Gilead are being treated as if they have no feelings. In the Novel The Handmaid's Tale, men are regarded as being more superior to women and treat them very poorly. These women are being stripped of their rights, restricted from loving, and are being blamed for not being able to deliver a child. Women are allowed no freedom and very little rights in Gilead. During the time when women are being stripped of their rights, Moira tells Offred that “women can’t hold property anymore, it's a new law”.

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In terms of language, Gilead creates an official vocabulary within the society that ignores the natural order of a normal society in order to serve the needs of the new society’s elite such as the commander and the wifes. Having made it illegal for women to hold jobs and being restricted from ‘love’, Gilead creates a system of titles. Men are defined by their military rank whereas women are defined solely by their gender roles as Wives, Handmaids, or Marthas. Stripping them of permanent individual names strips them of their individuality, or tries to. Feminists and deformed babies are treated as subhuman, denoted by the terms “Unwomen” and “Unbabies.”

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In The Handmaid’s Tale, the patriarchal society that is in occurrence relies on men to control over economic, social and political practices. The enforcement of stereotypical gender roles identifies the place of men and women in Gilead. Male individuals are placed at the top of the social structure; Commanders, Eyes, and Guardians control the public sphere and moderate governmental rule, make trade, and maintain security. Women’s roles tend to the private sphere with jobs including married Wives, Handmaids being “fruitful women who are barren” (Atwood 57), and Marthas which work to complete household needs. The gender stereotypes of having men maintain jobs which hold power while forbidding these roles from women and imposing them to complete

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However, in the late 21st century, this is the future and society of Gilead. This is the world in which Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, takes setting in. The novel is told in a first person account by Offred, a Handmaid. Through her, the reader learns about the rules and regulations a Handmaid of Gileadean society must obey. The reader learns about how different women are classified into sects and that each has a permanent role in society.

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This year is the 30th anniversary of the publication of Margaret Atwood 's dystopian classic, The Handmaid 's Tale. The novel is told from a first person account of a young woman, Offred. In an age of declining births, she is forced to become a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, the imagined future in the United States. The Handmaids are to provide children by the substitution of infertile women of a higher social status. Through the creation of different characteristics of female characters – ones who are submissive yet rebellious, and like to take advantage of their power - Margaret Atwood portray themes of love, theocracy, rebellion, and gender roles.

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In this written text, the emphasis will be on Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale and as well as the way Atwood portrays women and how it can be argued to show the oppression of women. The main purpose is to analyze the way women are treated throughout this book and depict why they are represented this way in the society in Gilead. Then, comparatively, observe the men’s domination over women and how they govern this society. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are stripped of their rights, suffer many inequalities and are objectified, controlled by men and only valued for their reproductive qualities. The Gilead society is divided in multiple social group.

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Furthermore, the author displays a dystopian society completely dominated by a totalitarian and theocratic state. The main subject of this novel is the role assigned to women, mainly represented by the handmaids. In Gilead, the made-up country where the novel takes place, women are completely subjected by the government, and especially by men, who clearly have a higher status than women. Moreover, women’s freedom is entirely restricted, as they cannot leave their house at their will, they are forbidden to hold properties or jobs, they cannot read or write, and they are treated as sexual slaves whose only purpose in life is to bear children for elite spouses. The other option is a miserable, short life at the Colonies (a type of concentration camp), and death.

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