Feminism In The Handmaid's Tale
Feminism as we know it began in the mid 1960's as the Women's Liberation Movement. Among its chief tenants is the idea of women's empowerment, the idea that women are capable of doing and should be allowed to do anything men can do. Feminists believe that neither sex is naturally superior. They stand behind the idea that women are inherently just as strong and intelligent as the so-called stronger sex. Many writers have taken up the cause of feminism in their work. One of the most well known writers to deal with feminist themes is Margaret Atwood. Her work is clearly influenced by the movement and many literary critics, as well as Atwood herself, have identified her as a feminist writer. However, one of Atwood's most successful books, The Handmaid's Tale, stands in stark contrast to the ideas of feminism. In fact, the female characters in the novel are portrayed in such a way that they directly conflict with the idea of women's empowerment.
On the surface, The Handmaid's Tale appears to be feminist in nature. The point-of-view character and narrator is a woman and thus we see the world through a woman's eyes. There's much more to the story than that, though. Atwood doesn't show us our world. She shows us a newly created world in which women lack the freedoms that they currently take for granted. This dystopian society is completely controlled by men. Of course, the men have help from the Aunts, a crack team of brainwashers that run the reeducation centers and teach the handmaids how to be slaves. These characters really don't speak well for womankind for two reasons. First of all, it's difficult to tell who their real life counterpart is, assuming that this...
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...st writers. It's obvious that Atwood intentionally set herself apart from these writers with The Handmaid's Tale. At times, she seems to disagree with them completely, such as when she shows pornography in a favorable manner. At other times, she portrays feminists themselves as the powerful women they would like to be seen as, but it's always with full disclosure of their human frailty. Atwood never bashes feminism. Instead, she shows both sides of it. Like everything else in the novel, feminism is shown to have good and bad elements. Even in Atwood's brave new world, there is no black and white.
Sources
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. New York: Fawcett Crest, 1985.
Moore, Pamela, Atwood, Margaret: The Handmaid's Tale. Boston, MS: Houghton Mifflin, 1986.
Internet
www.wsu.edu:8000/~brains/science_fiction/handmaid.html
We can also see her characterization through the author?s direct statement. When she shows her face to the public for the first time she since she was punished, the author commented that the people who expect to see her ?dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud?, find her more gorgeous, graceful and ladylike than she have ever been instead (49).
Margaret Atwood is famous for many things. She is a poet, novelist, story writer, essayist, and an environmental activist. Her books are usually bestsellers and have received high praises in the United States, Europe, and her native country, Canada. She has also received many Literary awards, like the Booker Prize, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the two Governor General’s Awards (“Margaret Atwood” Poetry). Through her books, she has written about what she sees in society towards women. She discusses how gender equality was corrupted in the past, but still is far from being reached, and women’s roles in society (“Spotty-handed”). Atwood also takes events in her life; like the Great Depression, Communism, and World War II; and applies it to her works. Margaret Atwood's works, including her novel The Handmaid's Tale, reflects women’s fight in equality, how society determines
When we hears the term Viking an immediate image of bloodthirsty men with long beards and horned helmets is conjured up in our minds. This is the image the historical sources have given us, and it is partly true. Vikings were merciless when raiding, but they were peaceful when they traded. Their navigational technology was exceptional, and the ones who settled in foreign lands contributed greatly to the lands’ culture.
Impacted by her love to read and write she used situations that she experienced or read about in newspapers to create every piece of her novel. An example in her historical context was the customs that she witnessed on a trip to Afghanistan it states “she observed behaviors that concerned her -- a man who only spoke to her partner and not to her, and the existence of the full-body coverings for women, known in Afghanistan as chadors.” This quote shows two specific ideals that you also see in the Handmaid 's tale, the lack of female equality and the clothing that women wore. Atwood was obviously greatly affected by both of these things because they are major parts of the society and the storyline. Another quote from the historical context of Margaret Atwood describes an event that happened in the US during the time Atwood was a politically aware individual it states “a group known as the “Moral Majority” -- or a group of Christian fundamentalists led by the preacher Jerry Falwell. The Moral Majority promoted an agenda that was focused on religiously inspired views, such as outlawing abortion, opposing recognition of homosexuality and the Equal Rights Amendment (a law that would guarantee equal rights for women), enforcing a “traditional” view of family life (with the man as the head of the household), and censoring any media that did not fit the views they had.” Again this quote shows a few of the major ideals of the society in The Handmaid 's Tale. The agenda of religiously inspired views and the enforcement of a traditional family. Atwood put these into her book to show how if these people had gotten control over the government what our future could possibly look
The Handmaid's Tale This is a futuristic novel that takes place in the northern part of the USA sometime in the beginning of the twenty-first century, in the oppressive and totalitarian Republic of Gilead. The regime demands high moral retribution and a virtuous lifestyle. The Bible is the guiding principle. As a result of the sexual freedom, free abortion and high increase of venereal diseases at the end of the twentieth century, many women, (and men also, but that is forbidden to say), are sterile. The women who are still fertile are recruited as Handmaids, and their only mission in life is to give birth to the offspring of their Commander, whose wife is infertile.
It is widely accepted that the Viking raids started at around C. 780 and lasted until the year 1020. The first recorded raid on the British Isles occurred in 789 when three ships from Hordaland (modern Norway) landed on the southern coast of Wessex. The exact reason behind this raid and the many others that followed cannot be put down to one particular reason as a number of factors contributed to the presence of the Viking invasions. In order to be able to assess whether Gold or Land acted as the primary reason behind the Vikings actions it is important to look at both motives thoroughly and additionally examine other enabling factors that have been put forward such as religion and various technological advances. By looking at other supporting
The Vikings were brutal in many ways such as killing people just to get what they want instead of trading, they would kill the people that would hide from them or if they wouldn’t tell them what they want to hear then the Vikings would kill them and keep on searching like nothing has happened.
In the earliest years of the Vikings, there was little history recorded due to the polytheistic views that they followed. After the Vikings converted to Christianity, there were eventually written documents created pertaining to their existence. In Viking Warfare, I.P. Stephenson states that the Vikings “first described attack took place in AD 789”(11). The Vikings were also known as Norsemen. They were great storytellers, and that is perhaps how society knows so much about them today. The stories that the Norsemen told were called Sagas. Today, Vikings are often depicted as murderous savages, but while they were not pillaging villages they were actually quite a peaceful civilization. There were three countries that Vikings evolved from; Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. Although it may seem that all Vikings were on the same side, they quarreled with each other as well. Despite the fact that Viking battles were bloody and gruesome they were also known to be the most hygienic out of many of the earlier civilizations. There was not a huge percentage of Vikings that went out and raided but when they did they made a huge impact on what Vikings are now known for. The success of Viking warfare and raids relied primarily on the uses of armor, weapons, long ships, and battle tactics.
Gothic literature was developed during the eighteenth and nineteenth century of the Gothic era when war and controversy was too common. It received its name after the Gothic architecture that was becoming a popular trend in the construction of buildings. As the buildings of daunting castles and labyrinths began, so did the beginning foundation of Gothic literature. The construction of these buildings will later become an obsession with Gothic authors. For about 300 years before the Renaissance period, the construction of these castles and labyrinths continued, not only in England, but also in Gothic stories (Landau 2014). Many wars and controversies, such as the Industrial Revolution and Revolutionary War, were happening at this time, causing the Gothic literature to thrive (“Gothic Literature” 2011). People were looking for an escape from the real world and the thrill that Gothic literature offered was exactly what they needed. Gothic literature focuses on the horrors and the dark sides to the human brain, such as in Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein. Gothic literature today, as well as in the past, has been able to separate itself apart from other types of literature with its unique literary devices used to create fear and terror within the reader.
While The Handmaid's Tale conveys the oppression of women, it also reveals the significant role women have in society. Atwood gets the point across that just as they can be oppressed by men, women can equally oppress themselves. Through Offred's eyes, comparisons between today's society and the possible consequences of one's attitudes are examined. The Handmaid's Tale slowly uncovers the many facets of women and the vital role they have as members of society.
In Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, women are subjected to unthinkable oppression. Practically every aspect of their life is controlled, and they are taught to believe that their only purpose is to bear children for their commander. These “handmaids” are not allowed to read, write or speak freely. Any type of expression would be dangerous to the order of the Gilead’s strict society. They are conditioned to believe that they are safer in this new society. Women are supposedly no longer exploited or disrespected (pornography, rape, etc.) as they once were. Romantic relationships are strongly prohibited because involving emotion would defeat the handmaid’s sole purpose of reproducing. Of course not all women who were taken into Gilead believed right what was happening to their way of life. Through the process of storytelling, remembering, and rebellion, Offred and other handmaids cease to completely submit to Gilead’s repressive culture.
Most of the Vikings spent time warring and hunting for food. The Vikings got there name because they would raid people. The word “Vikings” means pirate raid. Most people would say that the Vikings were very horrible people, but in reality they wasn't that bad. The Vikings were just like any other culture. They were trying to make a living, and keep there self alive.
The Vikings would aggressively burn down villages, which was uncalled for. Vikings wouldn't just raid a settlement and leave them alone, in fact, they would repeatedly return. They used everything as weapons and their greatest invention and their greatest weapon was the long boat. The Vikings came by sea with their narrow bottom longboats which allowed them to travel up rivers and take villages by surprise. Vikings also used bows and arrows, spears, knives, swords and axes, which added to their terrifying appearance. Filing grooves into their teeth meant they wanted to tear their enemy's bones from their flesh. Scaring their enemies with their appearance made their raids all that more successful. Besides killing people during their raids, they would also capture people to take back to Scandinavia and use them as human sacrifices. One way they would strike fear into their enemies was by using the ‘blood eagle'. This was when the Vikings would lay their enemies face down and cut the shape of an eagle with its wings spread on their back. After, they would hack their ribs out and pull their bones and skin out to create a
Callaway, Alanna A., "Women disunited : Margaret Atwood's The handmaid's tale as a critique of feminism" (2008). Master's Theses. Paper 3505.
Gothic Tradition was said to have started in Europe. Gothicism came from the Romanticism in the early 19th century (Book Rags). Two people who are said to have started the gothic writing movement are Ann Radcliffe and Horace Walpole. They started this style with their stories: “The Mysteries of Udolpho” and “The Castle of Otranto” (Book Rags). The gothic movement also came about because it was related to the art and architecture during the Renaissance era. Edgar Allan Poe three main elements romance, horror, and supernatural events are used in his short stories and poems. A few of his most famous short stories are “The Raven”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Tell-tale Heart”, “The Black Cat”, “Eleonora”, and “Annabelle Lee” (Book Rags). Some of his writing is dark and gloomy while others have romance and comedy.