Born in Ottawa in 1939 Published her first book of poetry in 1961 while attending UofT Later received degrees

from Radcliffe College and Harvard Her first novel, Edible Woman, was published in 1969 to critical acclaim

Atwood wrote the novel in West Berlin and Alabama in the mid-1980s (Significance???)

The novel, anti-utopian or dystopian has been linked to classics such as Huxleys Brave New World and Orwells 1984.

Dystopian literature presents fictional worlds or societies that are depicted as utopias, but under closer scrutiny illustrate terrifying and restrictive regimes in which individual freedoms are often suppressed for the greater good. Atwoods dystopia , Gilead, depicts a society in which religious extremists have taken over and reversed the progress of the sexual revolution.

The Handmaids Tale is reminiscent of Chaucers Canterbury Tales it conjures the immediate image of a medieval world full of knights and their ladies Note the double entendre on the word, tale the dual meaning establishes the conflict: the protagonist versus a world that sees her as a sexual object void of sexual autonomy

The Handmaids Tale is both a satire and a parody Satire: a novel, play or film that ridicules peoples foolishness or hypocrisy often by parody Parody: a grotesque or absurd imitation Atwood calls the novel a speculative fiction ie. What could occur if society closes its eyes to what is going on in the world. If people are not paying attention, they may experience loss of freedoms; in the worst case scenario, they become slaves

The fictional Republic of Gilead represents an atavistic Puritanism - a back to primal roots kind of extreme Puritanism (think The Crucible x 400!)

Atwood illustrates how fear guarantees collusion the individual is afraid to speak up or rebel; therefore, the individual shares responsibility for every aspect of the society, including its atrocities Through fear, a totalitarian regime is able to police itself. Its members--even the extremely oppressed-police each other as agents of the state. Friendship becomes obsolete as no one can be trustedWho is a spy? The Eyes are always watching you. Totalitarianism: a from of government in which no rival parties are permitted. Total submission to the state is required.