Symbols and Lenses Role in The Handmaid’s Tale Makeup symbolizes the stereotypical women's attributes in our modern society. Women are expected to look their best, not necessarily feel their best. In The Handmaid’s Tale, makeup plays just that. Gender roles relating to power, as well as changing appearances, loss of freedom, their past lives, and how the femininity has changed since their society was overthrown. Makeup isn’t mentioned as frequently as the word red, but it is a common theme throughout the novel. The symbol of makeup symbolizes many other things besides applying lipstick and blush for a night on the town. Offred’s beauty doesn’t mean everything to her, nor is it the most important issue on her mind, but it gives her a little At the bottom of the food chain is the women. Compared to men, they are the inferior sex. Basic human rights were stripped away leaving them with nothing but their red dresses and white winged hats. All they have to hold on to is their memories hiding inside their heads. Poked with cattle prods, herded into a crowded gymnasium, and forced to comply with beyond strict rules, the handmaid’s are closely comparable to slaves. Past lives are just that, their past. Women are not only Handmaid’s, there are a total of seven classes, the Wives being on top. The Wives wear all blue and are the partners of the commanders. The Marthas and the Aunts are infertile women who serve commanders and or train Handmaids. Econowives are similarly compared to Handmaids with the difference that their servitude and services are for lower-ranking officials. At the bottom are the Unwoman, they either refuse to be impregnated or are infertile, and as a consequence, they are sent to work in the colonies. Some may choose to work as Jezebels, which is a slang term for prostitution.Most all men have better lives than all classes of women. Commanders or more specifically the Commanders of the Faithful are married to the wives. Angels and Guardians of the Faith are soldiers fight outlaws and enforce laws. The eyes are Gilead’s secret police, no one knows who they are, but they are always
The women are divided into functions and are identified by the colour of their dress. In chapter 5, Offred is walking down the streets of Gilead, reminiscing about the days she used to walk down the street wearing what she wanted to wear before she got taken away, and also thought about simple things such as how she was able to freely walk to the laundromat to wash her own clothes with her own soap. She informs the reader of her analysis of the different types of women in the Republic of Gilead: “There are other women with baskets, some in red, some in the dull green of the Martha's, some in the striped dresses, red and blue and green and cheap and skimp, that mark the women of the poorer men. Econowives, they're called. These women are not divided into functions. They have to do everything; if they can.” (Atwood, 5.5) The Handmaid’s— the bearer of children— wear red, the Martha’s, who are the housekeepers wear green, and the wives wear blue. Econ Wives are the only women who aren’t defined by the colour of their dress because they must do every function. Atwood is showing that the individuality and identities of these women have been completely taken away and are labelled by the clothing they are forced to
Cora’s unpleasant reaction towards Offred, when she arrives at their home, represents how other classes automatically feel superior over Handmaids. When Offred walks in, she instantly is judged after she sees Cora “frowning...[Cora] tears out three tokens and hands them to [Offred]. [Cora’s] face might be kindly if she would smile. But, the frown isn’t personal: it’s the red dress she disapproves of, and what it stands for” (Atwood, 10). The tokens given to Offred symbolize the oppression of Handmaids throughout Gilead, since these women are handed money with no value. Granted, that the tokens have no worth outside of the imperialized area, this shows how women like Offred are looked at worthlessly. Handing out tokens instead of real money demonstrates how the government does not trust Handmaids; they believe these women will use legitimate money to escape Gilead, or rebel by accessing black market goods. With Handmaids associated with reproductive organs, and thought of as vessels for this process, the women wear red to exploit their societal intentions. Being that the color red symbolizes impregnation, it displays the advantage Handmaid’s attain over resentful women in society; this advantage is ironic due to the fact that higher classes in Gilead look down on Handmaids even though...
The colour of the flowers is also of vital importance. When Offred first enters the house of the Commander and his wife, she notices “… a fanlight of coloured glass: flowers, red and blue.” In the Republic of Gilead, Handmaids wear red and Wives wear blue; these colours are intended to reflect the owner’s “personality” – the wanton Handmaids in fiery red and the demure Wives in serene, virginal blue. The “blue irises” on the wall of Offred’s room are symbolic of this fact that she ...
Red is worn only by the handmaids; the color red indicates sexuality, fertility and childbirth, accordingly outlining their function as a sexual object; their sole purpose being to bear children for their Commanders. One of the most reoccurring symbols throughout the novel, red is interrelated with all things female (the Handmaids.) Inversely, red is furthermore a symbol of death, violence and blood, which Offred portrays as a color which “defines us.” The reoccurring appearance of the color red creates a thought-provoking parallel between femininity and power, as it signifies the religious “sinfulness” of promiscuous sex between the handmaid’s and their “married” commander.
Offred is a handmaid, in the novel The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood, who no longer desired to rebel against the government of Gilead after they separated her from her family. When Offred was taken away from her family the Government of Gilead placed her in an institution known as the Red Center where they trained her along with other women unwillingly to be handmaids. The handmaid’s task was to repopulate the society because of the dramatic decrease in population form lack of childbirth. Handmaids are women who are put into the homes of the commanders who were unable to have kids with their own wives. The Handmaids had very little freedom and were not allowed to do simple tasks by themselves or without supervision like taking baths or going to the store. There was an uprising against the government of Gilead and many people who lived in this society including some handmaids looked for a way to escape to get their freedom back which was taken away from them and to reunited with their families which they lost contact with. Offred was one of the handmaids who was against the government of Gilead before she was put in the Red Center, but she joined the uprising after she became a
The Gilead Society has segregated women into different caste systems. There are six main categories in the caste system. The first are the Wives, who wear blue dresses and are at the top of the female hierarchy. Their main purpose is reproduce with their husbands, if they are unable then Handmaids are used. Then there are Daughters, either the natural or adopted children of the ruling class. They tend to wear white until marriage. The next are the Handmaids, fertile women whose sole purpose is to reproduce children for the wives. Handmaids wear a full red dress outfit with red gloves, red shoes, and...
The Handmaids are controlled by their large red dresses and eye blinders on their hat. The Daughters wear white to show their purity, the Wives with their home restrictions. The Commanders are controlled by their obligations. Every person working, and living in Gilead has some sort of restriction placed on them. Offred is a Handmaid, who is thought of as the most and least important people in the caste system; "they rank among the most powerful female agents of the patriarchal order."
The threat of physical abuse is huge. Being woman is enough of a crime, but “any crime can result in an execution and a public hanging on ‘The Wall’” (Cameron 3). A woman can be hung for just about anything. If they defy the people in charge they can get hurt. The women are constantly abused. The Gilead government is in charge of what goes on in this society. If a woman has an affair with a different man they are taken and possibly tortured or hung. The Red Center, which is where they were taught how to be Handmaid’s, the women were constantly tortured. They had Aunts that looked over them. These aunts were not nice and, “they had electric cattle prods slung on thongs from their leather belts” (Thomas 91). The aunt’s view was all that was needed was the Handmaid’s baby making parts. The women did not need their feet, hands, or any part other than the torso. When the woman did something wrong or tried to run away th...
Margaret Atwood uses the culture of how handmaids dress to psychologically change how Offred sees and thinks about the world and others. On the way home from shopping with her partner Ofglen, Offred sees a group of tourists who are dressed how women used to dress before the war. Offred and Oglen stop and watch the tourists; "We are fascinated, but also repelled. They seem undressed" (28), Offred then remembers that she too used to dress like that. Offred's reaction shows that being a handmaid and having to dress so modestly can alter how you think about yourself and
In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, there is an apparent power struggle between Offred and the Commander. The Gilead Society’s structure is based off of order and command. This is what creates a divide between genders and specifies gender roles in this novel. Without this categorization of the roles and expectations of women, the society would fall apart at the base. Thus, the Commander, being the dominant gender set forth by the society, has control over Offred.
In the gilead society, women are placed in a social hierarchy in which they are defined by their role. The wives are the elite members. The handmaids are the people who produced babies. Marthas are the house servants. Aunts are a prestigious group of people who trained handmaids. Econowives are low class women. However, none of the women are defined as people with their own personalities and interests. Instead, Women are seen as objects that belong to men. Econowives belong to the Guardians. The wives, marthas,
Another way the women in The Handmaid’s Tale are unequal to men is in dress. In modern society it is normal to think of clothing as a way to express our personality and individuality. What you wear helps others know who you are. In the novel, the main character Offred grew up in a westernized world –freedoms like self expression and speech- but it was taken away from her when she became a handmaid.
... responsible for conceiving and giving birth for a Commander and his wife wear red. The Commander's wives wear blue which is the most prestigious color worn by a woman. Guardians, as well as Martha's, wear green, which is not an authoritive color, putting them in a lower class. White is the color to be worn only by the virgin daughters until they are given to a soldier to marry. Econowives are wearing dresses that are mixed colors because they have multiple functions and little value. The Republic of Gilead believes in showing levels of hierarchy, by the color of clothing worn.
Handmaids are also branded like cattle, a numerical tattoo on their ankle consisting of an eye and four digits; similar to the tattoos on Nazi prisoners, prevents them from escaping. Offred refers to it as, ‘’ A passport in reverse.’’ (pg. 75 ) this reference implies that there is no escape or leaving her situation, as a passport would allow a person to leave a country. Atwood uses this tattoo to display the society’s exploitation of power, and has been related to that of the cruel regime of Nazi Germany.
we can believe that we will some day get out, that we will be touched again, in love or desire” (96). Offred tries to take care of herself as much as she can by maintaining her beauty in hopes of one day going back to her normal life. Gilead has deprived handmaids of many personal necessities, one of them being basic face lotion. Offred has to steal butter to moisturize her face and when she does this it gives her some type of faith that one day she'll be able to feel the love she once had. The control over handmaids is very extreme, and shows how low they must be perceived in society to not be able to have the necessities they used to have before these strict laws.