Feminism In A Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood
analytical Essay
912 words
Dystopian novels are often used to array compelling political arguments and messages during periods of reform and influential eras. One notable, prize-winning dystopian novel is Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale, which addresses the discrimination and feminist backlash faced by the women of the 1980’s. It is depicted through the story of Offred, a fertile sex slave, called a handmaid, whose sole purpose is to become pregnant and repopulate the disease and pollution stricken society of Gilead. Atwood’s persuasive novel has shown resolute influence throughout the years, displayed through Jennifer Hodson’s analytical thesis, “American Trends and American Fears: An Analysis of the Women's Movement and the Religious Right as Envisioned in Margaret …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes margaret atwood's a handmaid’s tale, which addresses the discrimination and feminist backlash faced by the women of the 1980s.
- Analyzes how atwood wanted to communicate her concerns for modern society through a speculative fiction, painting an exaggerated truth of real situations occurring throughout civilization
- Analyzes how atwood displays reagan's political view of anti-abortion through the laws of gilead prohibiting and punishing the act of abortion.
- Analyzes how hodson's claim that a handmaid’s tale is a speculative fiction is true. atwood warns society of her concerns of male ignorance degrading women to lesser roles in society.
(Hodson 1). As a result of Reagan’s political views, he manufactured women and their bodies into mere political instruments through anti-abortion and reproductive rights campaigns thus repudiating women the choice of managing their bodies and sexuality. Atwood voices her boundless concern of these anti-feminist politics conducted by men through the handmaids in her novel by examining several debates embodied in the feminist movement (Hodson 1). In the novel, the handmaids have been stripped of many of their rights and sexuality leading to the constant dehumanization of women. This dehumanization is portrayed when Offred mentions that she has lost her rights of socializing and having a family: “There's nobody here I can love… They might as well be nowhere, as I am for them. I too am a missing person." (Atwood 103). The ruling Gileadean men have deprived the handmaids of their rights by not only tearing them from their prior lives and turning them into slaves of reproduction, but have even taken away their names, exhibiting more of the subhuman treatment of women that Atwood was trying to portray. This is proven when Offred says “All the people I could
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- Humanity In The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwoodanalytical essayMany texts that were published from different authors have introduced topics that can be related in today’s society, but Margaret Atwood’s creation called, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, gives voice to the thoughts and revolves around the narrator Offred, a woman whose rights have been deprived due to political issues. However, the information shared by Offred to the reader to the text is not reliable for the reason that she only touches upon her own perspective. Through the text, Atwood depicted what the United States of America would be in the future based on the actions of humanity during 1980’s. The text is set up in an androcentric and totalitarian country called Gilead, where the government attempts to create a utopian society. Thus, in order to attain this society, the authorities generated their legislation from the teachings of the Holy Bible in an attempt to control humanity. The governing
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how margaret atwood's "the handmaid’s tale" depicts what the united states of america would be in the future based on the actions of humanity during the 1980s.
- Analyzes how the government brainwashed the general public by taking women's rights by removing them from work and cutting off their credit cards.
- Analyzes how ity invigorates everyone through the eyes, which are the watchers of the society. taking away their freedom is also a sense of violence.
- Explains that torture is a specific form of violence, where people instill fear gradually in order to manipulate. people fear the lord god because of his words from the bible.
- Analyzes how offred desires to feel love, affection, and intimacy with her friends and family. the handmaid's tale focuses on many topics, but the main idea is that the actions of what society does, foreshadows their future.
1147 wordsRead More - Dystopian Novels In The Handmaids's Tale By Margaret Atwoodanalytical essayDystopian novels are a dime a dozen and the majority of them focus on the overuse of technology causing the demise of humanity. However, with The Handmaids Tale, written in 1986, Margaret Atwood uses her dystopian novel as a warning against patriarchal societies. Atwood’s novel portrays a world undone by pollution and infertility, reflecting 1980s fears about declining birthrates, environmental degradation and nuclear war during the Cold War. The novel was written shortly after the elections of Ronald Reagan in the United States and Margaret Thatcher in Great Britain, during a period of conservative revival that was partly fueled by a strong, well-organized movement of powerful religious conservatives who criticized what they perceived as the remnants of the “sexual revolution” of the 1960s and 1970s. The growing power of this “religious right” heightened feminist fears that the gains women had made in the previous few decades would be reversed ("Historical Context"). In The Handmaids Tale, Atwood portrays two distinct social classes through her choice of diction and uses her novel as an allegory for the treatment and perception of modern day women by conservative men.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how margaret atwood uses her dystopian novel, the handmaids tale, as a warning against patriarchal societies.
- Analyzes how atwood uses animalistic words to describe women in the handmaids tale to emphasize how humanity has been stripped away from them.
- Analyzes how atwood uses humanistic adjectives and lighter tone to make it clear to the reader that women are now considered to be objects centered around the opportunity for reproduction as a market gain.
- Analyzes how atwood's use of diction is reflected in her portrayal of women as being dependent on men.
- Analyzes how margaret atwood portrays two distinct social classes through her choice of words and uses her novel as an warning against the treatment and perception of modern day women by conservative men.
981 wordsRead More - The Theme Of Feminism In The Handmaid's Tale?analytical essayIn the book, The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood writes about an alternate universe about America that illustrates our worst fears. Some of the fears depicted in the book can be seen in the world today, such as the distaste for abortion and the mentality that men are supposed to have more power than women. These issues are not only known as social issues but also feminist issues. Feminism is the belief that women and men should be treated equally socially, politically, and economically. This book shows how these issues could get worse in our society. The author uses Offred, the protagonist in the story, to show how the world could change for the worst. Offred, a handmaid in The Handmaid 's Tale, showed how men and society had control over
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how margaret atwood writes about an alternate universe about america that illustrates our worst fears, such as the distaste for abortion and the mentality that men are supposed to have more power than women.
- Analyzes how offred showed how society and men had control over women in the story.
- Analyzes how society has made offred feel like she is nothing more than something that makes babies and she doesn't see herself as anything more.
- Analyzes how offred showed how society and men's control over women made women think that they needed men in their lives and to have children.
- Analyzes how offred realized that she holds power because she is a woman. she knew what her body was capable of and wasn't afraid to use it anymore.
1194 wordsRead More - Characterism In The Handmaid's Taleanalytical essayOne can only be torn to threads by society so much before they are no longer themselves. Societies are constantly ruling the people and telling them how to live and in Margaret Atwood’s book, The Handmaid’s Tale, no one is more to blame than the society of Gilead. Gilead is a society where every basic human right is taken from women and their role in society is specifically and only to provide their uterus to a qualifying male. In most novels, the character overcomes their weakness or struggle in life and they become the better person or the hero of the novel. Offred in this case, does not rise to the occasion and become the hero. It is partially her own fault and partially the society's fault. In the dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, by
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how margaret atwood's novel, the handmaid’s tale, blames the society of gilead, where every basic human right is taken from women and their role in society is specifically to provide their uterus to a qualifying male.
- Analyzes how the society of gilead strips every basic human right and power from women until they are nothing; all women will be impacted tremendously and incapable of returning to a normal life after the laws have been lifted.
- Analyzes how gilead's ban on essential health care products makes the handmaids feel more powerful, and makes it easier for them to say goodbye to their baby.
- Analyzes how offred's toxic relationship with luke and nick led to her being a handmaid in gilead.
- Analyzes how offred's lovers held power over her; with no power to grab, she cannot grow as an individual in either relationship.
- Analyzes how offred had a forbidden relationship with the commander. she abided by the rules and used language to survive. the society taught her that it was okay to cave into these pleasures.
1583 wordsRead More - The Dystopian that paused the worldanalytical essayMargaret Atwood in her novel, The Handmaid’s Tale warns us with her distinctive writing ability that the future is rather bleak for women. Referred to as a ‘scintillating wordsmith’, Atwood has been writing since her college days and has been the recipient of the Booker Prize once and a nominee for an astonishing five times. A miscellany of books fill her impressive track record such her Booker Prize winner, The Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake, The Edible Woman, Alias Grace and many more. The Handmaid’s Tale, published in 1985 by McClelland and Stewart speculates a harrowing and theocratic dystopian society called Gilead that has overthrown present day America. Due to alarmingly low reproductive rates caused by pollution and rampant STDs, a certain sect of women called Handmaids are assigned to powerful couples who aren’t able to reproduce due to their age and lack of fertility.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes margaret atwood's distinctive writing ability in the handmaid’s tale, which warns us that the future is rather bleak for women.
- Analyzes how atwood's lyrical prose takes the reader through her winding recollections of a life before the formation of gilead.
- Analyzes how atwood uses unconventional and descriptive sentences, trickled with high forms of imagery and allegories, coupled with headstrong and powerful protagonists who radiate repressed yet vehement feminism.
- Analyzes how atwood portrays a fundamentalistic and oppressed nation with the above stream of consciousness, and provides offred hope by allowing her to win the small insignificant things that don't affect her freedom, but her peace of mind.
- Analyzes how atwood's exposition and poetic artwork add to the composition’s appeal, but the lack of emotions create a vacuum that cannot be brushed aside.
- Analyzes how atwood reminds us to respect the struggle for women rights and freedom. offred's mother was a radical feminist, which further brings the lack of liberty to centre stage of the novel.
709 wordsRead More - The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwoodanalytical essayThe book “The Handmaid’s Tale” written by Margaret Atwood takes place in a dystopian society in which men are seen as being superior than women. Besides the obvious remarks that this book shows such as sexism, this book also gives a more concealed message in which it satirizes the ridiculousness of the fact that many women of the present generation do not want to be considered and do not wish to join the feminist movement. This idea is explored throughout the whole book, in which the main character, Offred, does not believe that feminism is needed and even ridiculed her mom when she talked about feminism and how is still needed. Ironically, as a result of that believe, a religious group was able to easily manipulate people and get control over
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how margaret atwood's "the handmaid’s tale" satirizes the ridiculousness of the fact that many women in the present generation do not want to be considered and don’t wish to join the feminist movement.
340 wordsRead More - The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwoodanalytical essayIn the Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Atwood portrays many postmodern themes by exploring feminism, religion, and sexual violence through the perspective of Offred. Gilead, the society Offred lives in, is a religious dystopia that provides freedom from any sort of harm against women. Gilead is built around protecting women from sexual violence while reinforcing it through the many practices the society enforces.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how margaret atwood portrays many postmodern themes by exploring feminism, religion, and sexual violence through the perspective of offred in the handmaid's tale.
- Analyzes how offred's society changed because of the presence of pornography, sexual, and sexual assault or any kind of violence against women.
- Analyzes how gilead's emphasis on religion increases male power which leads to sexual violence against women.
- Analyzes how gilead reestablishes the power of men by not punishing rapists and forcing them to marry young women.
- Analyzes how offred's commander takes her to jezebels and disguises her as his evening rental, which objectifies her more. gilead is disproving that their society gives freedom from sexual violence and rape.
- Analyzes how the commander's wife suggests that offred should have sex with nick because the commander might be sterile, but she feels obligated to because serena could have her transferred.
- Analyzes how serena finds out that the commander took offred to a club and says that she will suffer the same fate as the previous handmaid.
- Explains that women of this period had inferiority embedded in them due to the religious standard of the republic. lack of other opportunities in education and work exerted pressure on women to participate in their own subordination.
1354 wordsRead More - Women: The Expendable Commodity of Gileadanalytical essayMargaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale deals with how women are forced to accept roles based on extreme biblical laws distorted by a male dominated society; yet, there are women who willing participate in the reinforcement of these sexist and misogynistic values that subdue women. Gilead's government controls and shapes women's identities through oppression, however, indoctrinates women into believing that the roles stripping them of their independence are designed to protect and support them in fulfilling their biological purpose; fear of the Colonies and the Salvaging has intimidated women into becoming passive in order to survive, and forces them to report anyone failing to comply to the imposed hierarchical society. The new regime claims that it has given women more freedom than it has taken away, and since women are better protected they can become mothers without the fear of rape or being degraded by men or society; women are viewed as “functionaries” that must remain invisible by having matching uniforms, new names, and forgetting past identities in exchange for new ones consistent with the morals of Gilead (261). Handmaids fulfil no other purpose than to bear children, while barren wives must provide companionship for their husbands, perform domestic duties, and raise the children; every women’s body becomes a replaceable object controlled by Gilead, and all liberties and individuality are taken away, yet the Aunts justify and appear to encourage the subjugation of women. The utopian society employs fear as a powerful motivator to coerce its citizens to live a life of forced compliance and mental enslavement, by being passive and refusing to resist one is able to temporarily remain alive by escaping brutal punishment an...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how margaret atwood's the handmaid’s tale deals with how women are forced to accept roles based on extreme biblical laws distorted by a male dominated society.
- Analyzes how gilead employs the negative aspects of the old society as justification for the subjection of women.
- Analyzes how gilead's re-identification process eliminates all ties from past life and creates social divisions that define them instead of their individuality.
- Explains that women are to function as producers or caretakers of children and as spouses, aunts or servants unless they are unable to be of any use to society.
- Analyzes how gilead reinvents every woman's identity by depriving them of their families, personal possessions, opinions, and memories.
- Explains how the gilead government instills fear into the heart of every person. women are quick to comply to the rules of the new regime due to severe punishment and horrific fate.
- Analyzes how the next generation of gilead's citizens are able to accept their assigned duties willingly because they have no other society to compare it to.
- Concludes that gilead exists under the pretense that it was created to protect and support women, but women are regarded as subhuman valued only as a pair of ovaries and womb that can be easily replaced if defective.
1963 wordsRead More - Women And Women In The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwoodanalytical essayMargaret 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
In this essay, the author
- Describes margaret atwood as a poet, novelist, story writer, essayist and environmental activist. she has received many literary awards, like the booker prize, the arthur c. clarke award, and the governor general’s awards.
- Explains that margaret atwood was born in 1939 in ottawa, canada, and grew up in toronto. her father was an entomologist, which allowed them to go to northern forests and on research expeditions.
- Analyzes how margaret atwood's life impacted her. she was inspired by her first job as a waitress and her experience with the cook as inspiration for her works.
- Explains that margaret atwood lived during world war ii, which influenced her works, and also taught her that change can happen very quickly.
- Analyzes how the cpc urged canada to join the war and supported it through most of the campaign, but was no longer supported in canada.
- Explains that margaret atwood lived in west berlin at the time of the iron curtain, where the soviet union controlled the land behind the curtain.
- Analyzes how atwood's inspiration for her writings was the women’s movement, which changed how people read and what you can get away with in art.
- Opines that women were strong individuals, who did not need a man’s approval. she wrote books that reflected the changed role of women, but also what those roles were before.
- Analyzes how margaret atwood reflects women's roles in her books, and events happening throughout the world, by keeping to a flow of what comes in and comes out.
- Explains that atwood writes her books to impact society and hopefully change it so when others read her book they look at society differently and are willing to change the problems.
- Analyzes how atwood encourages readers and writers to take a risk in what they write, say, and fight for in society.
- Analyzes how atwood's work reflects reality, so much that some readers believe they might come true.
- Explains that margaret atwood began the handmaid's tale in the spring of 1984. the setting of the book is in cambridge, massachusetts.
- Opines that the handmaid's tale is a powerful book because atwood decided to only use things that were in reality from the past until the 1980’s so that others could connect to it.
1964 wordsRead More - Femininity In The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwoodanalytical essayMargaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid's Tale,” is overflowing with references to overpowering masculinity, negative sexualization and oppressive authority, obviously lacking any slight expression of femininity. The most relevant mention of femininity can be found in the recurring references to the diverse flowers. A flower, is often seens as a symbol of beauty, fertility or femininity. However, in “The Handmaid’s Tale” the presences of certain flowers seem to reflect objects that have the ability to bloom or grow, unlike the woman, potentially symbolizing a sense of freedom or self-growth. Additionally, in a more literal way a flower can be seen as the part of the plant that hosts the reproductive organs, thus drawing attention to the woman who lack
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how margaret atwood's "the handmaid’s tale" is overflowing with references to overpowering masculinity, negative sexualization, and oppressive authority, obviously lacking any slight expression of femininity.
- Analyzes how the color red represents violence and blood but also fertility, as shown through the red robes marking the handmaid's.
- Analyzes how offred acknowledges her lack of female expression while realizing how much male-dominance is truly present in their society.
- Analyzes how the continuous use of various flowers creates a strong representation of the gender roles present in this novel.
637 wordsRead More