Female Entrapment In The Handmaid's

Despite being produced almost ninety years apart, Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ and Attwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ present similarly disturbing depictions of female entrapment. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

The narrative voice of both Jane and Offred demonstrate the feeling of female entrapment in both texts. This is demonstrated through the setting of both the novels, as Jane is trapped in a room, which she did not want to stay in: ‘I wanted the one downstairs that opened on the piazza and had roses all over the window, and such pretty old-fashioned chintz hangings! But John would not hear of it.’ The submission of Jane and authority of John is shown through the short, simple sentence at the end of the quotation,
The use of ‘must’ demonstrates the extent of Jane’s entrapment as it implies she is possibly afraid of showing John that she is going against his rules. The verb ‘hates’ is quite harsh, demonstrating the extent of the dislike John has towards Jane writing which could be an example of female entrapment through the idea of literacy as the ability to write was associated with authority and education.

Both Janine and Jessie are considered ideal women because they abide by society’s rules, highlighting female entrapment as the only reason they are considered as the ideal depiction of women is because they are submissive. Janine and Jessie are portrayed through the narrative prism of Offred and Jane. This is significant as Offred has a very negative view of Janine: ‘she’s glowing, rosy, she’s enjoying every minute of this.’ The use of the two consecutive adjectives demonstrates Offred’s jealousy as she sees herself as neither of those two things. As Offred uses the third person singular pronoun ‘she’, the derogative and envious nature of Offred is portrayed as later on we learn that Offred knows the name of the
‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is an example of this as all the males mentioned have greater rights than the women and also hold influential roles within their career: ‘John is a physician’ ‘My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing’. The repetition of the conjunction ‘also’ could potentially demonstrate the narrator’s resentment towards her brother and husband, as she is aware that they control her life. The mere fact that physicians surround her could potentially be the reason why she is presented as trapped because her medication is controlled by both her husband and brother. It can be argued that ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ does not coincide with the idea of a ‘Feminist Dystopia’ because the Commander’s Wives have the second highest status in the Gilead hierarchy. Serena Joy’s authority is demonstrated in her attitude towards Offred: ‘I want to see you as little as possible’. This could potentially portray the jealousy Serena feels towards Offred, as she is unable to procreate. The use of the short, simple sentence highlights Serena’s disregard for Offred as she does not specifically say why she wishes to not see Offred, however for the reader it is obvious. Contrasting to this, the idea of a ‘Feminist Dystopia’ can be seen in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ because within the Gilead hierarchy, women