Feminism In The Handmaid's Tale
Feminism has always been an incredibly relevant issue in all societies and is still no exception in today’s day and age. One of the most highly acclaimed writers of today that tackles the plaguing issue of feminism and the unfortunate belittling of women is Margaret Atwood. Among her many successful novels, poems, and other works, her masterpiece of a novel The Handmaid’s Tale emphasizes the dangers of downplaying women and their roles in society. Set in a future dystopian society, Atwood’s novel is best understood and interpreted from a critical feminist viewpoint; if the reader adapts this perspective, the novel comes to life and its message to protect women’s rights is unmistakable. In order to fully understand Margaret Atwood’s purpose
…show more content…
in her novel, one must first understand the multiple implications of her previous works and her own beliefs. The Canadian native is vastly known in the literary world for her poems (“Margaret”). In fact, she first was noticed on the scene for her poetry in the 1960s, which was pivotal time for women’s rights, as people were becoming more and more vocal regarding the inequality among men and women (Sink).
Instead of simply standing by and further going along with the unethical treatment towards women, people began to speak up and no longer allow for the discriminatory government to keep reign. Coincidentally, Atwood’s literary appearances during this time established her writing style and craft. Although she’s from Toronto, the Women’s Liberation Movement played a potential role in Atwood’s future works, such as “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Jean-François Vernay also advocates that the historical context of the novel as a “critical feminism…of feminine resistance to patriarchy” which correlates the the movement (Vernay). Since Atwood witnessed the movement and was able to watch the progressive change from a considerably conservative to a more liberal society towards women, she channels those experiences into her literature as a way to prevent the negative aspects of a conservative perspective to infringe on women’s rights again. For example, in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the main character, Offred, is essentially imprisoned by her government which is a parallel to how women were treated by the U.S. during Atwood’s time. Although comparing the misogynistic society in which Offred is surviving in to the U.S. during the 60’s is
slightly a hyperbole, it is not incorrect. In fact, some scenarios require a far fetched exaggeration to persuade the audience of the magnitude of the pressing problem in furtherance of assuring that the unfavorable conditions do not come to rise. So, Atwood’s infatuation with feminism and seeing women given the same opportunities and rights across the board is one of the motivations for her novel. By characterizing Offred as being oppressed as essentially a female incubator whose only goal in life is to serve her Commander and produce offspring for him, Atwood is presenting the possible detrimental world that can surface if the Women’s Liberation Movement were not as successful as it was.
Atwood also represents the fear aspect that women contained prior to the uproar of the movement in the novel. Prior to the movement, women were hesitant and unable to voice their opinions regarding their own lives; such is the same in the novel. The secrecy is present when Offred compromises her safety by mentioning the resistance against the government to a new woman named Ofglen, who Offred unfortunately finds is not a part of the resistance and could have potentially destroyed any hope for her own life. While attempting to find if the new Ofglen is a part of the resistance, she says she met the original Ofglen during “what they used to call May Day” (Atwood 284). The term “May Day” is used in the novel as a secret indication to others in the resistance to indicate that one is a friend and not a foe. Unfortunately, Oflgen does not respond favorably to what Offred says, causing fear to evoke within her because she feels that she may be sought out now and eradicated. This corresponds to the movement because perhaps women had held off on voicing their opinions due to the fear of being ostracized by the others in the community that may have not been proponents of women’s rights. But, regardless of whatever fear may have been present, women started speaking up and slowly, but surely, got the movement boiling to an uproar.
However, Atwood does not include any true conclusions that may hint towards a more understanding world for women in the novel, as the reader’s last instance with Offred is when she unknowingly enters the van that has come to pick her up. Offred tells the reader as she enters the van “[w]hether this is my end or a new beginning I have no way of knowing: I have given myself over into the hands of strangers, because it can’t be helped” (Atwood 295). So, although Offred has been forced to go through with her situation and has no other options but enter the van, she has not driven herself to the worse case scenario and automatically decided that the van is truly a part of the government and not of the resistance. Offred enters what could be the end of her life or a completely revamped life without a single assumption. And, with an ending such as this, the novel leaves the reader yearning to know what happens, but this was not done from sheer laziness on Atwood’s behalf, rather Atwood leaves this novel’s ending as a denouement because she is implying that the work to bring women onto an equal level as men has still not come to an end and will always require perseverance. It correlates directly to the Women’s Liberation Movement once again. Although women technically have all the same rights as men, there is still much work to be done. As an example, women have yet to be placed on the exact level as men regarding salaries; women make considerably less than men for the exact same jobs. In fact, in 2014, women made 79 cents for each dollar earned by a man (“Pay”). Even in today’s current world which is far more liberal and equal than that of the 1960’s, women are continually treated as lesser beings, and Atwood’s future set dystopian has yet to bring that equality to a rise, indicating that the societal role of women will not achieve an improved role unless everyone is willing to put in the work and strive for equality.
The government of the novel also presents itself as a warning for women. In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale, all the people live under a totalitarian society, which according to Encyclopedia Britannica is a “form of government that theoretically permits no individual freedom and that seeks to subordinate all aspects of the individual’s life to the authority of the government,” and this is exactly the scenario within the novel (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica). Without the totalitarian regime of the United States that encompasses the novel, the novel would be completely different. Offred would not have been forced to take on the handmaid lifestyle and she would have never been ripped apart from her daughter and the story would have far less implications, causing it to be less successful at exhibiting the valuable influence of women in society. The totalitarian government does just as its name implies: it totally controls everyone. In fact, the totalitarian government of Gilead is at such an extreme that Offred and her ex-husband Luke had gone through the process of getting falsified passports in attempts to cross the border and escape their overbearing world (Atwood 192). Although the totalitarian government of Gilead is aimed at oppressing women, her husband Luke is also put into harm's way. As they try to finalize their escape, some details they have forgotten about emphasize how dangerous their situation is. Offred notifies us of this occurrence in one of her flashbacks. Offred emphasizes multiple times that they “couldn’t afford even then to give the least appearance of leaving” (Atwood 192) and were therefore forced to pack incredibly lightly. But, even more minor details were beyond important in order to leave without appearing to have left, and that detail is their cat. When Luke mentions that they have forgotten to decide what they’re going to do about their cat, Offred “hadn’t even thought about the cat” (Atwood 192). In a totalitarian government, even a detail as small as a meowing cat can tip off someone that the residents of the house have left and do not plan to return. Unfortunately, Luke and Offred can’t take the cat with them because that would lead to some suspicion, so the best solution was to murder the housepet (Atwood 192). Usually, people take great care of their housepets and love them unconditionally, but the totalitarian government that is destroying the life of all women in the novel has led some to desecate an animal that has done no harm. The oppression has reached such a maximum in Offred and Luke’s eyes that murdering their cat is far more sound than being caught just to be thrown back into a life they cannot stand to attempt to survive in. The situation has reached the point where any action necessary to get Offred and Luke to a world they can tolerate to live in is far more worth it than any life they may have to eradicate.
The feminist perspective of the novel is the most valuable in emphasizing how belittled women currently are and how worse it may possibly become with time. The main theme of the novel is how women are used as objects and not valued as human beings. According to Madonne Miner, the women in the novel are “depend[ent] on men intellectually, economically, physically, emotionally” (123). The women basically have nothing for themselves besides their ability to bear children. This aspect of the novel affirms the traditional views of women in the sense that they require a man to make their decisions and are unable to survive without the guidance of an apparently superior being. The traditional view that women are alive to be homemakers and be an incubator for a child in society is fully accepted in the novel. Offred’s literal job is to become pregnant from the man of a wealthy family if him and his wife are unable to conceive. Women are portrayed as feeble beings that are to do as they are told, even if that is from other women. One of the minor female characters in the novel is Serena, the wife of the Commander that Offred is forced to have sex with. Instead of women helping other women in this novel, the elite women, such as Serena, are content with their place and run the lesser women. In fact, Serena takes advantage of Offred’s situation with her lost daughter and bargains a picture of the girl for a favor. She asks Offred to have sex with Nick, the chauffeur, because it does not appear that the Commander is fertile. To convince Offred to do so, Serena mentions that she may be able to get a picture of Offred’s daughter, indicating that she has known this entire time the whereabouts of Offred’s daughter. Realizing this, Offred becomes filled with hatred towards Serena “[s]he’s known all along” and did not have the decency to make her aware (206). From an objective view, Serena truly did not have any reason to tell Offred about her daughter, but from a feminist view, she had the moral obligation to do so. Although feminism emphasizes the equality between men and women, it also implies that women should root for other women and help their fellow comrades out. But, Serena does the exact opposite and does nothing to help Offred through her handmaid life and actually makes it harder for her. In a feminists eyes, women have an unspoken bond in which they help each other and wish to see each other succeed, but the oppression of women in the novel is at such a disastrous level that women have turned on one another and no longer feel the urge to see each other prosper. Indeed, some of the men are more understanding and caring towards Offred than the women. The Commander starts inviting Offred to his chambers and plays scrabble with her. This doesn’t seem to be out of the ordinary, except that women were forbidden from knowing how to read. Although the Commander is still sexually using Offred to bear a child, he was still nicer to her than some others. The nicest thing Serena did was give Offred a cigarette.
A final example to emphasize the feminist perspective of the novel is to discuss how the novel would be perceived if the roles were flipped by gender. The sole purpose of the men would be to get women pregnant while the women were also in charge of the government. Here is where it becomes evident just how important the feminist perspective is; if the roles are switched, the misogynistic world of today would not understand the implications of the novel. If the men were put in such an oppressive circumstance, the audience would sympathize with the men and assume that they would get out of their situations. But, due to how people view women in today’s world, the audience feels slightly bad for them, but overall gets the impression that it was bound to become that way and that there is no way for them to escape their dreaded lives, unless of course a man swooped in to save them. Furthermore, in the original form of the novel, the men aren’t viewed as antagonists, but instead as people doing their jobs. But, if the women were in the power role, the audience would be shocked and define them as the villain. The effect of the novel would be entirely different and far less valuable as a warning for women, largely due to the fact that the women would be viewed as the antagonist with ill intentions. So, the current societal perceptions come to the surface when considering how the novel would be perceived in the scenario that the roles were flipped, and the need for equality between men and women becomes evident.
In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale the importance of women being brought to the same pedestal as men in society, both in the novel and in actual life, is unmistakable. Reading the novel from a feminist perspective brings the necessity to life and allows the audience to digest all the aspects that need improvement.
in her novel, one must first understand the multiple implications of her previous works and her own beliefs. The Canadian native is vastly known in the literary world for her poems (“Margaret”). In fact, she first was noticed on the scene for her poetry in the 1960s, which was pivotal time for women’s rights, as people were becoming more and more vocal regarding the inequality among men and women (Sink).
Instead of simply standing by and further going along with the unethical treatment towards women, people began to speak up and no longer allow for the discriminatory government to keep reign. Coincidentally, Atwood’s literary appearances during this time established her writing style and craft. Although she’s from Toronto, the Women’s Liberation Movement played a potential role in Atwood’s future works, such as “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Jean-François Vernay also advocates that the historical context of the novel as a “critical feminism…of feminine resistance to patriarchy” which correlates the the movement (Vernay). Since Atwood witnessed the movement and was able to watch the progressive change from a considerably conservative to a more liberal society towards women, she channels those experiences into her literature as a way to prevent the negative aspects of a conservative perspective to infringe on women’s rights again. For example, in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the main character, Offred, is essentially imprisoned by her government which is a parallel to how women were treated by the U.S. during Atwood’s time. Although comparing the misogynistic society in which Offred is surviving in to the U.S. during the 60’s is
slightly a hyperbole, it is not incorrect. In fact, some scenarios require a far fetched exaggeration to persuade the audience of the magnitude of the pressing problem in furtherance of assuring that the unfavorable conditions do not come to rise. So, Atwood’s infatuation with feminism and seeing women given the same opportunities and rights across the board is one of the motivations for her novel. By characterizing Offred as being oppressed as essentially a female incubator whose only goal in life is to serve her Commander and produce offspring for him, Atwood is presenting the possible detrimental world that can surface if the Women’s Liberation Movement were not as successful as it was.
Atwood also represents the fear aspect that women contained prior to the uproar of the movement in the novel. Prior to the movement, women were hesitant and unable to voice their opinions regarding their own lives; such is the same in the novel. The secrecy is present when Offred compromises her safety by mentioning the resistance against the government to a new woman named Ofglen, who Offred unfortunately finds is not a part of the resistance and could have potentially destroyed any hope for her own life. While attempting to find if the new Ofglen is a part of the resistance, she says she met the original Ofglen during “what they used to call May Day” (Atwood 284). The term “May Day” is used in the novel as a secret indication to others in the resistance to indicate that one is a friend and not a foe. Unfortunately, Oflgen does not respond favorably to what Offred says, causing fear to evoke within her because she feels that she may be sought out now and eradicated. This corresponds to the movement because perhaps women had held off on voicing their opinions due to the fear of being ostracized by the others in the community that may have not been proponents of women’s rights. But, regardless of whatever fear may have been present, women started speaking up and slowly, but surely, got the movement boiling to an uproar.
However, Atwood does not include any true conclusions that may hint towards a more understanding world for women in the novel, as the reader’s last instance with Offred is when she unknowingly enters the van that has come to pick her up. Offred tells the reader as she enters the van “[w]hether this is my end or a new beginning I have no way of knowing: I have given myself over into the hands of strangers, because it can’t be helped” (Atwood 295). So, although Offred has been forced to go through with her situation and has no other options but enter the van, she has not driven herself to the worse case scenario and automatically decided that the van is truly a part of the government and not of the resistance. Offred enters what could be the end of her life or a completely revamped life without a single assumption. And, with an ending such as this, the novel leaves the reader yearning to know what happens, but this was not done from sheer laziness on Atwood’s behalf, rather Atwood leaves this novel’s ending as a denouement because she is implying that the work to bring women onto an equal level as men has still not come to an end and will always require perseverance. It correlates directly to the Women’s Liberation Movement once again. Although women technically have all the same rights as men, there is still much work to be done. As an example, women have yet to be placed on the exact level as men regarding salaries; women make considerably less than men for the exact same jobs. In fact, in 2014, women made 79 cents for each dollar earned by a man (“Pay”). Even in today’s current world which is far more liberal and equal than that of the 1960’s, women are continually treated as lesser beings, and Atwood’s future set dystopian has yet to bring that equality to a rise, indicating that the societal role of women will not achieve an improved role unless everyone is willing to put in the work and strive for equality.
The government of the novel also presents itself as a warning for women. In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale, all the people live under a totalitarian society, which according to Encyclopedia Britannica is a “form of government that theoretically permits no individual freedom and that seeks to subordinate all aspects of the individual’s life to the authority of the government,” and this is exactly the scenario within the novel (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica). Without the totalitarian regime of the United States that encompasses the novel, the novel would be completely different. Offred would not have been forced to take on the handmaid lifestyle and she would have never been ripped apart from her daughter and the story would have far less implications, causing it to be less successful at exhibiting the valuable influence of women in society. The totalitarian government does just as its name implies: it totally controls everyone. In fact, the totalitarian government of Gilead is at such an extreme that Offred and her ex-husband Luke had gone through the process of getting falsified passports in attempts to cross the border and escape their overbearing world (Atwood 192). Although the totalitarian government of Gilead is aimed at oppressing women, her husband Luke is also put into harm's way. As they try to finalize their escape, some details they have forgotten about emphasize how dangerous their situation is. Offred notifies us of this occurrence in one of her flashbacks. Offred emphasizes multiple times that they “couldn’t afford even then to give the least appearance of leaving” (Atwood 192) and were therefore forced to pack incredibly lightly. But, even more minor details were beyond important in order to leave without appearing to have left, and that detail is their cat. When Luke mentions that they have forgotten to decide what they’re going to do about their cat, Offred “hadn’t even thought about the cat” (Atwood 192). In a totalitarian government, even a detail as small as a meowing cat can tip off someone that the residents of the house have left and do not plan to return. Unfortunately, Luke and Offred can’t take the cat with them because that would lead to some suspicion, so the best solution was to murder the housepet (Atwood 192). Usually, people take great care of their housepets and love them unconditionally, but the totalitarian government that is destroying the life of all women in the novel has led some to desecate an animal that has done no harm. The oppression has reached such a maximum in Offred and Luke’s eyes that murdering their cat is far more sound than being caught just to be thrown back into a life they cannot stand to attempt to survive in. The situation has reached the point where any action necessary to get Offred and Luke to a world they can tolerate to live in is far more worth it than any life they may have to eradicate.
The feminist perspective of the novel is the most valuable in emphasizing how belittled women currently are and how worse it may possibly become with time. The main theme of the novel is how women are used as objects and not valued as human beings. According to Madonne Miner, the women in the novel are “depend[ent] on men intellectually, economically, physically, emotionally” (123). The women basically have nothing for themselves besides their ability to bear children. This aspect of the novel affirms the traditional views of women in the sense that they require a man to make their decisions and are unable to survive without the guidance of an apparently superior being. The traditional view that women are alive to be homemakers and be an incubator for a child in society is fully accepted in the novel. Offred’s literal job is to become pregnant from the man of a wealthy family if him and his wife are unable to conceive. Women are portrayed as feeble beings that are to do as they are told, even if that is from other women. One of the minor female characters in the novel is Serena, the wife of the Commander that Offred is forced to have sex with. Instead of women helping other women in this novel, the elite women, such as Serena, are content with their place and run the lesser women. In fact, Serena takes advantage of Offred’s situation with her lost daughter and bargains a picture of the girl for a favor. She asks Offred to have sex with Nick, the chauffeur, because it does not appear that the Commander is fertile. To convince Offred to do so, Serena mentions that she may be able to get a picture of Offred’s daughter, indicating that she has known this entire time the whereabouts of Offred’s daughter. Realizing this, Offred becomes filled with hatred towards Serena “[s]he’s known all along” and did not have the decency to make her aware (206). From an objective view, Serena truly did not have any reason to tell Offred about her daughter, but from a feminist view, she had the moral obligation to do so. Although feminism emphasizes the equality between men and women, it also implies that women should root for other women and help their fellow comrades out. But, Serena does the exact opposite and does nothing to help Offred through her handmaid life and actually makes it harder for her. In a feminists eyes, women have an unspoken bond in which they help each other and wish to see each other succeed, but the oppression of women in the novel is at such a disastrous level that women have turned on one another and no longer feel the urge to see each other prosper. Indeed, some of the men are more understanding and caring towards Offred than the women. The Commander starts inviting Offred to his chambers and plays scrabble with her. This doesn’t seem to be out of the ordinary, except that women were forbidden from knowing how to read. Although the Commander is still sexually using Offred to bear a child, he was still nicer to her than some others. The nicest thing Serena did was give Offred a cigarette.
A final example to emphasize the feminist perspective of the novel is to discuss how the novel would be perceived if the roles were flipped by gender. The sole purpose of the men would be to get women pregnant while the women were also in charge of the government. Here is where it becomes evident just how important the feminist perspective is; if the roles are switched, the misogynistic world of today would not understand the implications of the novel. If the men were put in such an oppressive circumstance, the audience would sympathize with the men and assume that they would get out of their situations. But, due to how people view women in today’s world, the audience feels slightly bad for them, but overall gets the impression that it was bound to become that way and that there is no way for them to escape their dreaded lives, unless of course a man swooped in to save them. Furthermore, in the original form of the novel, the men aren’t viewed as antagonists, but instead as people doing their jobs. But, if the women were in the power role, the audience would be shocked and define them as the villain. The effect of the novel would be entirely different and far less valuable as a warning for women, largely due to the fact that the women would be viewed as the antagonist with ill intentions. So, the current societal perceptions come to the surface when considering how the novel would be perceived in the scenario that the roles were flipped, and the need for equality between men and women becomes evident.
In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale the importance of women being brought to the same pedestal as men in society, both in the novel and in actual life, is unmistakable. Reading the novel from a feminist perspective brings the necessity to life and allows the audience to digest all the aspects that need improvement.