Handmaids Tale Essay Research Paper In what

Handmaids Tale Essay, Research Paper

In what ways can The Handmaid&rsquos Tale be considered a feminist novel.

The Handmaid&rsquos Tale is narrated by an oppressed woman, so it is to

be expected that feminism becomes a recurring theme. Women have no rights

or money unless they have a valid marriage to a man. They are given few

options&ndash if they are fertile they can become sex slaves&ndash&lsquo

womb on legs&rsquo to Commanders or choose to go to the colonies.

Infertile women or&lsquo unwomen&rsquo are seen as having no use so they

automatically go to the colonies where they will die from disease or

radiation. Their use and status is totally dependent on their

relationships with men and ability to have children. Women are used by

men and treated as far inferior, in Gilead women are the men&rsquos

property. The handmaids especially&ndash&lsquo We are a commodity&rsquo,

their names in the household reflect this&ndash Offred&ndash Of Fred.

They can be disposed of at will, even the Commander&rsquos Wives have

little real importance and are given menial tasks such as ordering

prayers at Soul Scrolls and knitting the Guardians scarves&ndash&lsquo

Maybe it&rsquos just something to keep the Wives busy, to give them a

sense of purpose&rsquo.

But this concept of women being extensions and property of men is one

used in our own society. Though mostly out dated now,&lsquo Mrs Peter

Watson&rsquo is similar to&lsquo Ofglen&rsquo. But practically all terms

for women are the extension of the term for men&ndash Mr/s, fe/male,

wo/man. This leads to the idea that Atwood is really just exaggerating

the current situation of the world. The second quote at the beginning of

the book from Swift&rsquos&lsquo A Modest Proposal&rsquo indicates that

The Handmaid&rsquos Tale is Atwood&rsquos own satirical view of present

times. In an interview Atwood says&lsquo theres nothing in the text that

hasn&rsquot already happened&rsquo. The third quote&ndash&lsquo There is

no sign in the desert that says&lsquo Thou shalt not eat

stones&rsquo&rsquo indicates that she believes Gilead could never come

into existence because of the common sense of people, no one could really

believe in its philosophy and beliefs, the society&rsquos flaws are too

apparent.

Another interpretation of the novel is that it is a reaction against any

idea that the woman&rsquos place is in the home, that her sole use is one

of reproduction. It demonstrates where these views could lead if

encouraged or entertained. It gives the idea that men would act that way

if given the power, that they would like to be in control and superior.

That although men outwardly accept and respect women, inwardly they do

not see them as equals&lsquo I sense in him (the Commander) none of the

animosity I used to sense in men, even in Luke sometimes. He&rsquos not

saying bitch in his head.&rsquo This quote shows that the Commander

doesn&rsquot feel resentment against her because he&rsquos not expected

to treat her like an equal. He is not threatened by her as men perhaps

would be in our society. In fact it indicates that he is amused by her

will and spirit, he doesn&rsquot take her seriously.

In the novel men control the society outwardly, but the women stay

together and support eachother. There is empathy between women of all the

classes, though they have varying status they are all secondary citizens.

Perhaps this suggests that men wouldn&rsquot act that way, that they are

violent and commanding while women make the best of what they can and

stay supportive. There are few attractive male roles; Nick and Luke are

the only ones who are genuinely kind-hearted and brave. But though the

novel is primarily concerned with women and their positions, it

isn&rsquot as supportive of feminism as one might expect. Offred&rsquos

mother is an extreme feminist and she is often ridiculed and shown as

over the top&ndash&lsquo A man is just a woman&rsquos strategy to make

another woman&rsquo. Gilead fulfils many of the extreme feminist&rsquos

designs&ndash separate culture for men and women, women valued and

protected from rape and male abuse, the banning of pornography,

cosmetics, and the idea that magazines are degrading to women.&lsquo You

wanted a women&rsquos culture. Well, now there is one. It isn&rsquot what

you meant, but it exists. Be thankful for small mercies.&rsquo Moira is

also a radical feminist, Offred has a more&lsquo common sense&rsquo stand

point and she shows us the paradoxes and dilemmas within feminism. She

loves men; she strives for equality as far as possible between the sexes.

We se

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