Handmaid's Tale Research Articles

The Aesthetics of Social Reproduction: Silences in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower

Abstract: This essay interprets novels by Margaret Atwood and Octavia Butler as the authors engage with social reproduction theory, a field concerned with the relationship between productive labor—"value"-producing work, such as that of the factory—and reproductive labor (or so-called women's work), including housework. Charting the impact of Tillie Olsen's essay "Silences in Literature," the essay argues that subsequent authors of the 1980s and 1990s adapted Olsen's concept of silences to their own purposes. What was originally a mode of interpreting the missing contributions of women to literary history became for later writers an invitation to think about lapses as an aesthetic strategy. In The Handmaid's Tale and Parable of the Sower , Atwood and Butler reimagined Olsen's silences as developing a "trope of inarticulacy," a technique by which narrators insert gaps or occlusions in place of conveying events such as sex, pregnancy, or care work. The essay concludes that such a trope is the means by which these authors repeat the procedure that subordinates women's work to waged labor.

From Ego to Empowerment: Deconstructing Narcissism in Margaret Atwood’s Dystopian Masterpieces

The goal of this study, From Ego to Empowerment Deconstructing Narcissism in Margaret Atwood's Dystopian Masterpieces, is to identify and evaluate which characters in The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments characterize as Simone de Beauvoir's Narcissist in her theory on the Other. According to this, the narcissist makes their own ego and desires the focus of their universe. They look to other people for approval, exaltation, and attention to boost their sense of worth. This desire for outside approval frequently results from insecurity, which people try to mask by portraying themselves as exceptional. According to the analysis, Paula, Shunammite, Aunt Vidala, Aunt Lydia all exhibit characteristics of a Narcissist. Paula and Shunammite take delight in staging themselves as successful women—the role they create for themselves—and revel to the glory it brings. Aunt Vidala sees herself a righteous woman who gives herself a pass on guilt when she does something terrible, making her mysticism as the cause of her narcissism. Lastly, Aunt Lydia, enjoys her power, as the Aunt with highest authority, which makes the idea of losing it and shrinking back to a normal woman difficult to stomach. The study also examined the Narcissist's role in patriarchal society. The Narcissist's stance illustrates that culture, religion, politics, business, and social norms often justify male dominance in civilizations. Family, religion, culture, tradition, and politics must be re-evaluated to include women as subjects of their own lives and as human rights.

Atrocity in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale: A Critical Discourse Approach

This paper examines the discursive tactics employed in The Handmaid's Tale to (re)produce social reality. Using critical discourse analysis, the study reveals the ideological polarization between a favorable self-presentation and a negative portrayal of the other. Through the analysis of excerpts and the application of Van Dijk's framework, the pervasive use of discursive techniques is uncovered, emphasizing the ideological division between a positive self-portrayal and a negative depiction of the other. Pronouns and adjectives play a crucial role in conveying optimistic self-representations and pessimistic other representations, highlighting the characters' struggle against the inherent sexism and patriarchy within legal systems. The findings demonstrate the significance of polarization, lexicalization, positive and negative representation tactics, and the proximity of contrasting stages, illustrating the tension between the individual and society. Considering these results, the paper recommends fostering awareness and critical analysis of discursive tactics, promoting diverse narratives to cultivate empathy and understanding, encouraging dialogue and critical engagement, and actively addressing and challenging gender inequality. These recommendations aim to deepen our understanding of how discursive tactics shape social reality and promote a more equitable and inclusive society. By recognizing and interrogating these discursive strategies, individuals can navigate and challenge the manipulation of language and narrative. The study's insights contribute to a broader understanding of the underlying gender inequality and societal tensions portrayed in The Handmaid's Tale, shedding light on the power dynamics and systemic oppression present in society.

"Nolite te bastardes carborundorum": Corpus Stylistics and Language of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale

This paper investigates the stylistic and linguistic characteristics of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, a novel of Canadian origin. Employing a corpus-based approach, the researcher aims to analyze its stylistic features in-depth, focusing on specific predetermined categories. Quantitative analysis was facilitated through WordSmith 8.0 software, enabling the identification of keywords in context, which serve as indicators of the linguistic style within the selected corpus. Results indicate that the novel employs simple language and concise sentence structures. Moreover, it demonstrates lexical diversity, encompassing various themes with a higher type-token ratio (TTR), indicative of a diverse vocabulary. Notably, there is a notable prevalence of first-person singular pronouns throughout the text. Regarding content word distribution, verbs are the most frequently utilized, followed by nouns, pronouns, adverbs, and adjectives—additionally, the analysis of keywords aids in uncovering stylistic and linguistic elements embedded within the text.

Bridge Babies and Rebuilding America: Reproductive Commodification in Death Stranding

Hideo Kojima's 2019 video game Death Stranding has sold over 10 million copies since 2022. The game's plot features a post-apocalyptic United States where female bodies become commodities to produce babies, which the government utilizes as equipment to rebuild the country. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the government's, the terrorists’, and the player character's words and actions reinforce or reject traditional patriarchal views about reproduction. I first establish a background in post-apocalyptic narratives by synthesizing themes from The Handmaid's Tale, The Road, and The Walking Dead. Using feminist post-structuralism, I analyze how reproductive commodification is prioritized over ethics by the government, rejected in favor of general destruction to the greater good by the terrorists, and is used only when absolutely necessary by the player character. I finally argue that commodification narratives are typical within post-apocalyptic narratives, are harmful, and have the potential to influence real-world politics.

Nature, Gender, and Resistance in Atwood's Surfacing and The Handmaid's Tale

This study attempts to explain Margaret Atwood’s two famous novels Surfacing (1972) and The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) in reference to Ecofeminism. Women and nature are always celebrated with each other and wherever their position is absolutely neglected. As a result, the sterility of the society launches. Atwood selects females as the leading characters and ecological catastrophe in its contextual. Atwood knowledgeably syndicates in Surfacing and The Handmaid’s Tale the dual subjugation of nature and women that occurs in the two societies. The corruption of nature conveys extermination to the societies and develop a contributory dynamic of subjugation of women by patriarchal society. She clinches that the discrimination against women and nature is identical and thus liberation of women won’t be fruitful without an equivalent endeavor to liberate nature.

Lost In Conformity: Exploring The Erosion Of Identity And Individuality In The Face Of Oppression In Authoritarian Dystopias

Dystopia is a place where everything is disastrously wrong. Dystopian literature embodies recurring elements that construct a vivid and often unsettling description of oppressive societies. Dystopian literature explores fictitious societies or worlds characterised by oppressive governance and dehumanisation. Several works of dystopian literature centre around the concept of totalitarianism, offering readers an opportunity to critique this system and emphasise the significance of individuality and freedom that is suppressed under the rule of totalitarianism. This research paper delves into the convoluted realms of dystopian literature, focusing on the pervasive composition of the loss of identity and individuality in the face of oppressive regimes. Employing a qualitative research methodology, the study centres its analysis on Margaret Atwood's seminal work, The Handmaid's Tale, to unravel the profound impacts of authoritarian control on the characters' sense of self. The investigation extends by examining the plight of women in dystopian settings, illuminating the multifaceted practices in which they grapple with the erasure of their individual identities. Through a careful examination of the characters' experiences, the paper aims to shed light on the nuanced nature of gender-based oppression, presenting how women become symbolic of a broader societal scrabble against totalitarian rule. By investigating the inimical consequences of technological advancements, the study emphasises the erosion of personal freedoms and the subjugation of autonomy that often accompanies the omnipresence of advanced surveillance and control mechanisms.

Mythological heroes, historical figures and characters of world literature in the works of Margaret Atwood

The subject of the research in this article is Margaret Atwood's literary game, which includes work with myths, world history and literature. Margaret Atwood (b. 1939) is a well-known modern Canadian writer, poet, literary critic and critic. Her works include the novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985) and its sequel, The Testaments (2019), as well as the fantasy trilogy The Mindless Addam (2003-2013). No matter what M. Atwood writes about, her works are always a story, a complex and multilevel narrative, in the center of which stands the figure of the narrator. Having begun her literary activity in the heyday of postmodernism, M. Atwood combines many features of this trend in her work: literary play, rethinking archetypal images and traditions, deconstruction. Taking as a basis the achievements of foreign and domestic researchers of M. Atwood's work, as well as research in the field of literary studies by M. Atwood herself, we describe how M. Atwood studies, analyzes and recreates well–known patterns on a new basis – in Canadian literature. The main conclusions of the study are: 1) Being a representative of young Canadian literature without a well-formed cultural and literary layer, M. Atwood borrows from the global literary tradition, as well as mythology and folklore, heroes and images that she seeks to "instill" on new Canadian soil. 2) M. Atwood's deconstruction is not the destruction, analysis of an established tradition, but, on the contrary, an attempt to create it through appropriation and assimilation of other people's traditions. 3) M. Atwood, as a rule, takes ancient Greek and European myths and fairy tales as a basis. 4) Working with the characters of wandering plots and textbook works (Shakespeare), M. Atwood often resorts to overturning the established idea of characters, creating doppelgangers and "werewolves".

DİSTOPİK EVRENDE KÜLTÜREL SEMBOLİZM: THE HANDMAID'S TALE FİLMİNİN GÖSTERGEBİLİMSEL İNCELEMESİ

Dystopia offers a critical perspective on socio-political and economic issues, while cultural symbolism deepens this critique through symbols that express societies' beliefs, values, and norms. Semiotics, on the other hand, analyzes the meanings of these symbols, addressing how social criticism is structured. Roland Barthes' semiotic approach unveils the subtexts of dystopian narratives by deciphering the roles of symbols in ideological and cultural contexts. In this context, the study adopts semiotics as a method and conducts analysis within the framework of Barthes' approach. The aim of the study is to analyze the film The Handmaid's Tale, set in a dystopian world, from a semiotic perspective in terms of cultural symbolism. It is concluded that the concepts of sign, signifier, and signified play a critical role in the interpretation of the ideological structure and representations in the film and in determining the messages intended to be conveyed to the audience.

Forced Adoption as War Crime: Representations of Orphanizing and Child Trafficking in The Giver and The Handmaid's Tale

Forced Adoption as War Crime: Representations of Orphanizing and Child Trafficking in The Giver and The Handmaid's Tale

The Tapestry of Oppression: “The Handmaid's Tale” through the lens of Intersectionality

The Tapestry of Oppression: “The Handmaid's Tale” through the lens of Intersectionality

The Metonymy about Power in The Handmaid's Tale

As a speculative fiction, the book the Handmaid’s Tale written by the Canadian writer Margaret Atwood shows us a dystopian world where women are under the totalitarian rule by men, and not only women, men are also constrained by the totalitarianism in Gilead. Based on this, by applying the research method of textual analysis, the this paper mainly discusses the metonymies about power reflected in the Handmaid’s Tale, which are manifested in the dress color in Gilead, the stratification of the upper class and the naming of Handmaids in this book. Furthermore, this paper tries to unearth the underlying cause of the metonymies used in the Handmaid’s tale through specific analyses of the metonymies. And based on the result of the analyses, it indicates that to some extent, metonymy here can be a way to achieve power oppression.

Margaret Atwood as a Feminist

Abstract: Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa, Ontario. When she was seven years old, her family moved to Toronto. Her father, an entomologist and professor of zoology, studied tree-dwelling insects. Atwood's passion for Canada's wilderness is present in most of her writings. Atwood is famous for the outspoken feminism in her books. From her first novel, The Edible Woman, to the dark masterpiece, The Handmaid's Tale (1985), which cemented her international reputation, Atwood demonstrated deeply concerned with the constraints society places on women and the facades they adopt in response. . The Handmaid's Tale, which Atwood refuses to call "science fiction", depicts a society in which women are stripped of all rights except those to marry, run a household, and reproduce. After The Handmaid's Tale made Atwood an international celebrity, she wrote a series of novels dealing with relationships between women, including Cat's Eye (1988) and The Robber Bride (1993). In 1992, she published Good Bones, short, witty articles about women's body parts and the limitations that have been placed on them throughout history. Atwood explores the historical role of women in other works including her famous poetry collections, the Journals of Susanna Moodie (1970) and her novel Alias Grace (1996). Both recreate the lives of famous feminism women in Canadian history.

The discursive strategies of power and female resistance in margret atwood's the handmaid's tale: a foucauldian reading

This paper examines the use of certain discursive strategies and the consequent female resistance in Margret Atwood novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985. The novel portrays different forms of power exercised by totalitarian governments over women. In complex ways, Margret Atwood uses the feminist dystopian genre to resist gender-based oppression. To do so, Atwood must first build a miserable world that subjugates their female characters before she can create ways for these characters to resist. The events of The Handmaid's Tale, like most dystopian stories, take place in the future, but they express the anger and anxieties of the present, and more women speak out against sexual assault and harassment. This study applies Michel Foucault's concepts of power relations through discursive strategies in Margret Atwood's “The Handmaid’s Tale”. More explicitly, the research tries to shed light on the discursive practices used to control women's minds and bodies in a way that guarantees complete obedience to a specific ideology. The study also shows how women use strategies of language and education to resist and free themselves from the oppression imposed on them. These types of fiction have always been sites of power conflict, reflecting the atrocities committed against the public by those in power. It is concluded that Foucault's ideas about discourse and power explain why women are oppressed by totalitarian regimes and how they use the same power to build a discourse of resistance to free themselves from oppression and disciplinary power.

A MARXIST READING OF MARGARET ATWOOD'S THE HANDMAID'S TALE

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is a salient dystopian fiction considered as an allusion to the reader's reality, where it highlights a futuristic totalitarian regime in which people are dehumanized and live in horror and indignity. However, the purpose of this article is to explore the class conflict between the various women's social classes under the Gileadean regime and its resulting persecution. Moreover, this study adopts Marxist Feminism as a theoretical framework to read the text and explore the implications of social class conflicts and clashes among women in the household. Consequently, the current paper reached the following findings: First, the Gileadean regime deliberately creates differences among the women in the household in order to exploit them and creates a state of conflict among themselves. Second, the regime fabricated a false consciousness among each class, especially the Handmaids, to deceive them and make them think they are superior in society in order to keep them under control so as to be used as sacred vessels or fertile reproduction machines for the infertile women of high class. Finally, Gilead was able to make women turn on each other as the upper class of women played the role of patriarchy in persecuting the inferior classes of women.

“I Did Watch ‘The Handmaid's Tale’”: Threat Modeling Privacy Post-roe in the United States

Now that the protections of Roe v. Wade are no longer available throughout the United States, the free flow of personal data can be used by legal authorities to provide evidence of felony. However, we know little about how impacted individuals approach their reproductive privacy in this new landscape. We conducted interviews with 15 individuals who may get/were pregnant to address this gap. While nearly all reported deleting period tracking apps, they were not willing to go much further, even while acknowledging the risks of generating data. Quite a few considered a more inhospitable, Handmaid's Tale like climate in which their medical history and movements would put them in legal peril but felt that, by definition, this reality was insuperable, and also that they were not the target—the notion that privileged location, stage of life did not make them the focus of government or vigilante efforts. We also found that certain individuals (often younger and/or with reproductive risks) were more attuned to the need to modify their technology or equipped to employ high and low-tech strategies. Using an intersectional lens, we discuss implications for media advocacy and propose privacy intermediation to frame our thinking about reproductive privacy.

The Feminist Dystopian Themes in Margret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale: A Reflection of the Social and Political Issues

This paper explores the feminist themes present in Margaret Atwood's seminal novel, "The Handmaid's Tale," and analyzes their resonance with contemporary political and social issues. The aims of this study are to understand how Atwood's depiction of a dystopian society highlights the suppression of women's rights, autonomy, and agency and to elucidate the relevance of these themes to the current socio-political landscape. This qualitative study aims to explore the feminist themes in Margaret Atwood's acclaimed novel, "The Handmaid's Tale," and examine their relevance to current political and social issues. To achieve this, a multi-step approach will be adopted. The method employed involves a comprehensive analysis of the novel, encompassing close reading and critical examination of key passages. The results of this study reveal that "The Handmaid's Tale" intricately explores themes of gender inequality, reproductive rights, and the patriarchal control exerted over women's bodies. Atwood's dystopian society of Gilead serves as a stark warning of the potential consequences of eroding women's rights and dismantling feminist progress. The analysis also illustrates the novel's relevance to contemporary issues, such as the ongoing struggle for reproductive rights, gender-based violence, and women's representation in politics and leadership roles. In the discussion section, the findings are further examined in light of present-day political and social challenges faced by women around the world. Utilizing the critical feminist dystopia concept, the paper explores the parallels between Gilead's oppressive regime and the actual threats to gender equality and women's rights in various societies. Moreover, the analysis highlights how "The Handmaid's Tale" serves as a poignant critique of patriarchal structures and a call to action for addressing systemic gender disparities. The conclusion of this study emphasizes the enduring significance of "The Handmaid's Tale" as a powerful feminist work, reflecting the resilience of patriarchal forces and the need for continued activism to safeguard women's rights. Atwood's narrative serves as both a cautionary tale and a source of inspiration, urging readers to remain vigilant in defending women's agency, autonomy, and equality. Ultimately, this research reaffirms the timelessness of feminist literature and its vital role in fostering awareness and mobilizing societal change.

From Gilead to Syria: A Comparative Study of Patriarchal Oppression and Resistance in Margaret Atwood's “The Handmaid's Tale” and Nagham Haider’s “Winter Festivals”

This paper examines the influence of Margaret Atwood's concept of feminist dystopia on Nagham Haider's Winter Festivals. The main objective of the research is to explore how Haider's literary works, specifically her Winter Festivals, reflect Atwood's feminist dystopian vision. The study adopts Atwood’s approach of feminist dystopia as represented in The Handmaid's Tale to explore themes of gender oppression, objection of the female body, government control, and patriarchal power structures. In her novel, Haider draws heavily from Atwood's feminist dystopian vision, particularly in her exploration of the intersectional oppression faced by the women during the Syrian Civil War. Haider's novel portrays a society in which women are oppressed and denied agency and autonomy, which is a central concept in Margaret Atwood's feminist dystopia. It can be concluded that Nagham Hayder's Winter Festivals echoes Margaret Atwood's feminist dystopian theory in several ways. Both authors present patriarchal societies where women are oppressed and controlled, with women's bodies commodified and controlled by men. Both novels showcase governments exerting complete control over citizens through surveillance and propaganda. Additionally, they emphasize the significance of women's resistance and solidarity in the face of oppression. Winter Festivals' portrayal of a revolution against the Syrian regime and The Handmaid's Tale's depiction of Handmaid resistance show Hayder's apparent influence from Atwood's feminist dystopian ideas in her writing. Finally, this research contributes to the growing body of scholarship on feminist dystopian literature, shedding light on the global reach and impact of Atwood's vision, as well as the diverse ways in which feminist writers around the world adapt and re-imagine this powerful genre to reflect their unique experiences and perspectives.

Nolite te Bastardes Carborundorum? Using Kylie Jenner and Reproductive Rights to Examine the Cultural Afterlife of The Handmaid’s Tale

Emerging from the shocking image of Kylie Jenner's 2019 Handmaid's Tale themed birthday party — in which women clad in red dresses and bonnets drank cocktails and celebrated — this paper analyzes the cultural afterlife of the Handmaid symbol from Margaret Atwood's celebrated novel The Handmaid's Tale. Spanning from Jenner's birthday celebration to abortion protests in Philadelphia, I begin by understanding how the Handmaid herself is conceived of by Atwood in the novel. Building from this literary analysis, I question all modern utilizations of the Handmaid symbol. In the same way that acts of resistance are subsumed by the tyrannical system in The Handmaid's Tale, I argue that contemporary deployments of the Handmaid symbol — whether for protest or not — have no lasting impact, as they are inevitably assimilated into the oppressive cultural from which they emerged.

A glimpse of Hope: Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower as Critical Dystopias

A glimpse of Hope: Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower as Critical Dystopias