The Handmaid's Tale Essay
Themes Featured in the Handmaid’s Tale -Religion Religion was a huge theme in The Handmaid’s Tale, as it influenced much of the cultural change that took place. Gilead’s society was founded on the ideas featured in the Bible, and on the idea of Christianity's God being the one true religious being. The name “Gilead” itself is a reference to the Bible, named after a fertile land in Palestine. This meant that there was an absence of any separation between Church and State; which in turn created the social system that established Gilead. The founders worked to create a social structure using biblical terms, that would organize the new society and allow it to remain stable. The women of Gilead were divided into five sub-groupings, each holding
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Due to the strong religious influence, the very idea of sex, sexuality, and any activities that don’t serve to populate the earth are seen as unfit for society and forbidden. It created a culture where lesbians and gays were executed, along with abortion doctors, and all sexual activities had to be done in underground groups. In this society, marriage became much more sacred, so much so that divorce and second marriages became illegal. Even with this belief, the idea of a husband sleeping with anyone besides his wife, something that would logically be forbidden, is actually legal and practiced by nearly every husband of the time. What makes it normal, is the fact that these women are only handmaid’s and their purpose is to supply children to the family. It is something that displays how strongly Gilead tries to distinguish sex from the idea of sexuality.
While handmaids were designed to be part of a ritual only, it is reasonable to assume that many took part in having an affair with their assigned husbands, as seen with the Commander and Offred. During one of their talks, the Commander takes Offred to a type of secret sex club. It features all the taboo things that were stripped from society. Many of the women there are the ones who didn’t make it in the Gilead society and were unable to adapt to the new
Due to the strong religious influence, the very idea of sex, sexuality, and any activities that don’t serve to populate the earth are seen as unfit for society and forbidden. It created a culture where lesbians and gays were executed, along with abortion doctors, and all sexual activities had to be done in underground groups. In this society, marriage became much more sacred, so much so that divorce and second marriages became illegal. Even with this belief, the idea of a husband sleeping with anyone besides his wife, something that would logically be forbidden, is actually legal and practiced by nearly every husband of the time. What makes it normal, is the fact that these women are only handmaid’s and their purpose is to supply children to the family. It is something that displays how strongly Gilead tries to distinguish sex from the idea of sexuality.
While handmaids were designed to be part of a ritual only, it is reasonable to assume that many took part in having an affair with their assigned husbands, as seen with the Commander and Offred. During one of their talks, the Commander takes Offred to a type of secret sex club. It features all the taboo things that were stripped from society. Many of the women there are the ones who didn’t make it in the Gilead society and were unable to adapt to the new