Women In The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a dystopian novel centered around the protection and imprisonment of women in a society named Gilead. Although, there are many differences between modern society and Gilead, the most significant difference is the type of freedom given to women. The contrasting aspects of the two types of freedom is best described by Aunt Lydia, who believes, “There is more than one kind of freedom. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of the anarchy it was freedom to. Now you are given freedom from” (Atwood 34). In her statement, Aunt Lydia identifies that women in Gilead are given the “freedom from” instead of the “freedom to”; meaning that the freedom to make independent decisions and actions is not given to most
women. Because women have the "freedom from", they are protected from the negative consequences of having the "freedom to" . In attempts to protect women; the society Gilead restricts emotional connections and freedoms, ultimately degrading the quality of life. In Gilead, the government frequently pushes to supress and restrict emotional connections between people.
To start off, women are not allowed to form emotional connections with others, especially men. In order to prevent women from developing relationships with men, they receive little to no chances to even communicate with most men. The extent the government goes to prevent women from having any type of communication with men is seen when Offred is in the center. The center . Offred describes that, “The guards weren’t allowed inside the building except when called, and we weren’t allowed out, except twice daily, two by two around the football field,which was now enclosed by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire” (Atwood 4). The restrictions listed previously contribute to the poor quality of life women in Gilead faced. People become empty inside without the hope for a family or a person to experience life with and ultimately lose the hope for happiness. To second the idea of emptiness, the goal of the government is to create the emptiness inside women, specifically, in the Handmaids. When Offred is in the center, Aunt Lydia repeats the idea that the Handmaids are emptied out inside only to be filled with a baby. So, when Aunt Lydia states that the Handmaids need to be completely empty, she means it. Many women in the early years of Gilead, who experienced the change from modern society to a dismal dystopian future, were stolen separated from their families. Offred’s
daughter and husband are taken away from her, creating a miserable quality of life for her and any other female whose family was taken from them to the transition of government. Overall, when family and love is taken away with no hope of returning, it creates a poor emotional state for women in the story and lowers their quality of life. Gilead’s government also protects women by limiting or abolishing freedoms held in the past, lowering their quality of life.
First, women in Gilead lose the freedom to have a family. Without the concept of love, many women lose hope in life and become empty shells. Offred believes that love “is the way you understood yourself” (Atwood 225) and without love you were “like a mutant” (Atwood 225). So, by abolishing the idea of family and love, you abolish an individuals true self. Next, the abolishment of choice lowered the quality of life. Women no longer choose how they live, work, what they wear, eat and etc. By doing this, this protects them from judgment of others and from being
different. The society Gilead protects women by restricting and preventing emotional connections and freedoms, creating a low quality of life for women. In Gilead, many women were stripped of their families, friends, and personal possessions. Most women within the society were very unhappy and wanted to return to the original life they had in America. Unfortunately, for society at this time, it was too late to turn back from the damage already done.