ipl-logo

Handmaid's Tale: An Ultra-Misogynistic Dystopia

1044 Words5 Pages

In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Gilead, an ultra-misogynistic dystopia, has taken over what can be assumed to be the United States. Women are separated into categories based on their age, fertility, and general use to the regime. Any women who does not fit the qualifications for any of the categories or violates rules against sexual activity is deemed an Unwomen and sent to the a supposedly treacherous place known as the “Colonies”. Men are also forbidden from having sexual relations unless given position of Commander, a rank that seems to hold the most power and privilege in society. The systematic oppression of these people is surrounded by religious justifications and biblical references. This is ironic because the promises made …show more content…

One of their methods of control is instilling a sense religious obligation into the Handmaids, stating a case based on monotheistic beliefs. Gilead, however, picks and chooses which aspects of religion they enforce in order to protect its vision. Aunt Lisa admonishes the Handmaids against inappropriate interactions with men because, “They can’t help it... God made them that way, but He did not make you that way. He made you different. It’s up to you to set the boundaries. Later you will be thanked,”(Atwood 45). By setting this precedent, she is saying that men are not responsible for controlling their sexuality. While the Bible does stress that women are obligated to remain chaste and not tempt men, it also lays out sexual boundaries that men are to respect, like refraining from masturbation and extramarital sex. The Handmaids are also told that , “The Republic of Gilead....knows no bounds. Gilead is within you,”(Atwood 23), as if Gilead is God, a higher power that the Bible suggests is in all human beings. This shifts the Handmaid's’ responsibility from loyalty to God to loyalty to government. This is yet another area where Gilead abuses biblical text in order to justify its

Show More
Related

  • Symbolism In How To Read Literature Like A Professor

    643 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Handmaids must submit to their Commanders as they hold the dominant role. The Handmaids are also sacrificing their bodies and fertility to their Commander and his wife in order to give them a child. They have all been renamed with names that signify the Commanders they serve: Offred, Ofglen, Ofcharles, Ofwarren, etc. These names show the Commanders’ possession of the Handmaids. In The Handmaid’s Tale, sex symbolizes the Handmaid’s sacrifice and submission and the Commanders domination and control over the Handmaids in

    Read More

  • Ethos And Pathos In Margaret Sanger's Speech

    1351 Words  | 6 Pages

    In the beginning she talks about how throughout the centuries women have been slaves to men’s desires and philosophies. She evens relates men’s hold of women as the “shackles of slavery”. “We now know that there never can be a free humanity until woman is freed from ignorance, and we know, too, that woman can never call herself free until she is mistress of her own body. Just so long as man dictates and controls the standards of sex morality, just so long will man control the world” (pg.2).

    Read More

  • Essay On The Oppression Of Women In The Handmaid's Tale

    1620 Words  | 7 Pages

    Throughout history, women have often been subjected to prejudice and an inferior status to men. Due to sexist ideologies of men believing that women are not capable of controlling their own lives, women have often been reduced to the status of property. This concept is prominent in many pieces of literature to demonstrate the struggles women have to go through in a predominantly, male structured world. In the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, the author illustrates a woman’s battle in an extreme society ruled by men to express the misogyny occurring in the time period when it was written, 1894. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia summarizes Atwood’s story as one that “depicts one woman’s chilling struggle to survive in a society ruled by misogynistic fascism, by which women are reduced to the condition of property.”

    Read More

  • Femininity In The Handmaid's Tale

    1008 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout the novel, aphorisms play a large role in depicting the role of women as subservient to their male counterparts. By altering distinct aphorisms from the Bible and then locking it away from women, the male leaders of Gilead use the Bible to impose their rules and views. These modified sayings are instrumental in the effort of the subjugation and indoctrination of Handmaid’s. Although Offred resists conforming to such brainwashing, her constant references to Aunt Lydia's precepts are indication of the success of such tactics. One saying in particular, “Modesty is invisibility” (Atwood 28), is so indoctrinated in Offred that she conforms to the doctrines and rules of Gilead without hesitation.

    Read More

  • Women's Roles In Puritan Society

    490 Words  | 2 Pages

    , this quote gives an example of just how much dominance the men had. Girls acquired how to act from their mother. The women were strictly in charge of cleaning the house and being the spiritual leaders of the house. It was their responsibility to see that their family attended church every week. The women were involuntary subordinate to the men of that day.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Satire In The Handmaid's Tale

    1472 Words  | 6 Pages

    Atwood connects the political events to show how Gilead gained control and keeps their control by establishing fear into the women. Gilead stays in control by limiting speech to religious references, keeping the women from talking about the oppression they are suffering. Additionally, women are blamed for the social issues that were present in a pre-Gilead society such as rape, abortion and adultery. Women get the blame for the issues and men do not suffer consequences since it is in their nature to cheat. Atwood uses allusions to the Old Testament and historical events to satirize the oppression of women in political, religious and social

    Read More

  • Dehumanization In The Handmaid's Tale

    783 Words  | 4 Pages

    “What it really means is that she is in control of the process and thus the product. If any.” (109). The society of Gilead wants to make sure that the child is the Commander’s wife’s child as much as possible, and they believe that by having Serena Joy hold the hands of Offred, then that is possible. In this way, Offred, and all of the other Handmaid’s are sexually dehumanized.

    Read More

  • Political Issues In The Handmaid's Tale

    988 Words  | 4 Pages

    The subjugation of women is evident in the Gilead system as each Commander is given a handmaid whose name is “Of” the Commander’s name. Handmaids have no identity of their own and are similar to sex slaves at the mercy of

    Read More

  • Rebellion In The Handmaids Tale

    978 Words  | 4 Pages

    He has the duty to impregnate his handmaid Offred. He plays a hypocritical character because even though he creates the rules he breaks them. For example, the place he takes Offred wearing a lingerie, “‘What do you think of our little club?’”(Atwood 236). It was more of a brothel and he only took her to the so he could have the freedom to have sexual intercourse with her without having to restrain himself from showing pleasure and without his wife invading the room. Him having to act like he doesn’t take pleasure in having sexual intercourse made him take these measures.

    Read More

  • Objectifying Women In The Handmaid's Tale

    1209 Words  | 5 Pages

    Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), presents several controversial yet realistic themes that can be linked to many social justice issues in today’s society. One central point that is highlighted throughout the novel is the objectification of women. In Atwoods novel women transition from normal citizens in society, to baby birthing machines. Women no longer acquire the respect, authority, freedom, and power that men have in the world of Gilead. This objectification that the handmaids are exposed to can be seen all throughout our environment, and there is no limit to where it can occur.

    Read More

  • Oppression Of Women In The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

    996 Words  | 4 Pages

    Handmaid’s whom are the fertile women in the Gilead society, are stripped from all freedom and rights, banned from knowing any form of literature and have to be submissive to men, allowing their bodies to be sexually used to produce children. In contrast, women who are not fertile such as Wives have their freedom taken away too as they are confined to doing assigned jobs around the house. In contrast, the Aunts and the Commanders are shown to have the highest rankings in the Gileadean society. They are powerful figures, with privileges such as the Aunts being allowed to read and write and the Commanders being permitted to get married and have a handmaid's assigned to

    Read More

  • How The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood Dehumanize Women

    981 Words  | 4 Pages

    Some of these methods include destroying identity through classification, objectification, and indoctrination. Most women of Gilead are sufficiently repressed that they seem to accept their assigned roles, at least outwardly resigned to their fate. Atwood uses gender roles in The Handmaid’s Tale to show the lengths to which misogynistic totalitarian governments will go, to protect their dictatorships. The Republic of Gilead is a hierarchical society which requires complete submission of women to men. By taking away women’s paid jobs, confiscating their property, draining their bank accounts, and giving them no recourse, the male leadership leaves women in a fully dependent and subservient position.

    Read More

  • Patriarchy In The Handmaid's Tale

    1122 Words  | 5 Pages

    Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, argues that women are instruments of the patriarchy, that women know this, and that women allow the system of oppression to live on. Her fictions ask, “What stories do women tell about themselves? What happens when their stories run counter to literary conventions or society’s expectations?” (Lecker 1). The Handmaid’s Tale is told through the protagonist, Offred, and allows readers to follow through her life as a handmaid while looking back on how life used to be prior to the societal changes.

    Read More

  • ' The Handmaid's Tale: A Dystopian Society?

    807 Words  | 4 Pages

    How would you feel if you were controlled by a society? In the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, Gilead is a dystopian society where people are told what to do and what not to do. Margaret Atwood demonstrates that restricted expression leads to rebellious actions by showing the rules being broken by the Commanders and Offred’s relationship as it’s developing. Although, society tells them they are restricted to certain actions, they disregard these rules and do what they desire.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In The Handmaid's Tale

    1304 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Handmaid’s Tale Essay-How does Atwood’s portrayal of women compare to modern conceptions of women? “I avoid looking down at my body, not so much because it’s shameful or immodest but because I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to look at something that determines me so completely” (Atwood pg.82). This is a quote that the narrator and main character of the book (Offred) says as two other women give her her bath. How hard does a woman’s life have to be that she wouldn’t even want to look at her body.

    Read More

More about Handmaid's Tale: An Ultra-Misogynistic Dystopia

Open Document