Feminism In The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a novel that is set in the future in a republican society known as Gilead. The Gilead Society gives a different perspective of how women are represented by different rankings of social classes. Each social group holds a different amount of power or a little amount of power, to none at all. The Aunts which are one of the highest ranking women within the novel,The aunts intentionally have names that are related to household products that are well known by women, this causes the Aunts to be more familiar with the Handmaid’s. The Aunts are masterminds behind brainwashing the handmaids into thinking of what’s expected of them within the Gilead society. Another well known and higher ranking classes are the Wives. The wives hold a certain amount of power by being married to the commanders ( the commanders are the husbands to the wives. Whom are a higher social class for men.) The wives are the major role which played in creating the religious laws and the classes in the Gilead society. The last and one of the lowest classes are the Handmaid’s, whom play a large role in the society of Gilead with

The role of the aunts is to run the red center, where the handmaid’s are being “trained” into what they are needed for. The Aunts are masterminds in getting the handmaid’s into thinking what the “correct” way of living and going about their day within the new society: “Try to think of it from their point of view she said, her hands clasped and wrung together, her nervous pleading smile. It isn't easy for them.” (14). The Aunts wear brown clothing with belts that have cattle prods attached, this is incase the handmaid’s decide to disobey, or misbehave. The aunts are the only ones that hold the power to read and write within the society of Gilead. One of the other roles that the aunts do is guide the handmaid’s through the pregnancy if they become fertile. (add the