Written task 2 – Critical Essay

Prescribed question: How and why a social group is represented in a particular way

Title of the text of analysis: Handmaid’s tale by Margaret Atwood

Part 3: Literature- texts and contexts.

My Critical response will:

 Explain how women are presented in Handmaid’s tale through women’s characterization as
being suppressed by men and how does this affect the dialogue said by women in the story.
 Examine the authoritarian regime in Gilead, only portrays women as having less rights than
men
 Explain how the context in which the story is set restricts women’s rights as having less
flexibility/ rights as men
Prescribed question: How and why a social group is represented in a particular way.

How and why the women of Gilead are represented in a particular way?

In Margaret Atwood’s story, The Handmaid’s tale, is set in a male dominated country known as the
republic of Gilead. Women are only seen as birth givers, housemaids and normal housewives. In the
republic of Gilead women are seen to have less rights than men. A woman’s identity in this book is only
determined by their social status (Handmaid, Martha, Wives and econowives) the social statuses that
each woman determines their worth in the Republic of Gilead. The portrayal of women in the book is
shown by Offred’s characterization and her role in society of solely only to give birth to children. The fact
that Gileadean women are seen to have less rights than men automatically affects dialogue in the book.
For example the dialogue said by Offred “She doesn’t make speeches anymore, she has become
speechless. She stays in her home, but it doesn’t seem to agree with her”. This dialogue made by Offred
is referring to Serena Joy, the commander’s wife. Serena used to be an evangelist preacher. This
dialogue shows that she is suppressed and was not given the permission to free speech. For the women
of Gilead, wives and handmaids “Pen is envy” (196), this signals women’s dispossession of the power of
speech, they were not allowed to have the right of free speech anymore

Gilead is portrayed as an authoritarian regime in the book, the main character Offred was one of the few
to be chosen as a suitable handmaid. To be a handmaid a woman must be able to conceive a baby, it is
difficult as most of the population were not able to conceive due to the radiation waste that infected a
majority of the population, as a result of the low birth rates Gilead’s population is starting to decline.
The authoritarian regime in Gilead is portrayed by the characterization of women in the book only being
treated as objects. It is proven that they have less rights as the highest position a woman can assume is
being a commander’s wife, this role alone doesn’t give women the right to command or lead, most of
these wives rarely go out ( only to public events such as parties commemorating a handmaid giving birth
and public executions). wives wear blue dresses which symbolized purity amongst other women.
Women were also not allowed to take part in Government decisions. An example of this claim would be
that Serena Joy was one of the founding members of Gilead, but it only made her a slave to her own
creations. Despite being a founding member, she was not allowed to participate in government decision
making. This is linked to the new testament where it was said that women should not take up preaching,
and to find jobs more suitable for their kind. The Gilead regime is mostly run by men, with high ranking
commanders, soldiers, workers being men (excluding the colonies). Due to the fact that women have no
voice in society of Gilead makes them completely dependent on men for their survival.

Furthermore, due to the dire conditions occurring in Gilead, fertile women are treated as a scarce
resource. This however doesn’t improve their social status, they are still treated as being inferior
compared to men. For example, in the book, handmaids are only known by which commander they
belong to Ofglen, Offred. The handmaid’s must perform “The Ceremony “once every year, these
handmaids were only allowed to perform the ritual with high ranking men such as commanders or
angels. This ceremony is a form of ritualized rape. Although the handmaids express their discontent with
the ceremony, they have no choice, as they cannot speak up for themselves. Women are oppressed in
every possible way, for example by stripping away their rights to consensual reproduction. Women in
the book are also banned from reading or writing- this restriction is dehumanizing and results in
women’s loss of literacy. Fertile Women are seen as a scarce resource, to prevent women from speaking
out, they oppress women by as mentioned above, restricting access to reading or writing. Gilead adopts
a common rule we see before modernization (before 1900s) where women weren’t given as much
education/ rights as men. As similar to Gilead’s regime, women were only used for reproduction, to
prevent women from speaking out education is restricted or limited to only rich families, but this is
contradictory to Gilead where women weren’t allowed to reading or writing at all. It is said that a pen is
mightier than sword, writing also equals to sharing ideas, a free thinking and independent woman in
Gilead would be hazardous towards the thriving of the Gilead regime. The bible not only has text and
accounts teaching us of obedience, but also it talks about the oppressed being freed (The Jews escaped
from Egypt), teaches us to challenges the status qou. The ability for women to read and write would
whisper the start of a rebellion, with women writing accounts or diaries to share to the world on how
oppressive, cruel and evil Gilead really is. In Gilead bible verses are twisted and taken out of context, to
suppress women. The only women who are allowed to read are Aunts. This rule in Gilead is similar to
Genesis where Eve took the apple and handed it over to Adam, this is interpreted in Gilead society as to
women cannot make good decisions.

In conclusion,.Women are oppressed and put down . Women were not given the right to education
(reading and writing) due to their own set of rules . the authoritarian regime in which Gilead is set in
plays a role in dampening the voice of revolution. Through this book Atwood is conveying that women
are also capable of revolution. Women’s oppression links perfectly with the context of the story. A
Gilead surrounded with radiation which leads to the decline of birth. With Offred writing a diary, it is
seemed as an effort towards revolution.