Handmaid's Tale - Feminist Perspective

619 Words3 Pages
Analytical response Reading the Handmaid’s Tale as a Feminist text The dystopic novel The Handmaid’s Tale written Margaret Atwood can be read from a feminist perspective. This is evident as the female characters of the novel are controlled by the patriarchal society as the leaders of this society manipulate the truth through the use of the Bible. In the Gileadean society the male is seen as the dominating subject whilst women are used as the other. The female characters believe that is normal for male’s to be the dominating subject. The feminist perspective is relevant and important as it is present in contemporary aspects of society. Margaret Atwood has concerns for the subordination of women in the world as women are the blame for an HIV epidemic in Africa. Women within Gilead are objectified by the leaders of the patriarchal society. In Gilead all women are controlled by men, including the Wives. Within Gilead there is no physical or emotional attachment between the women and the men “he looks over us as if taking inventory”. The simile shows how everything that female characters do is controlled by a male authority which makes it very easy for Commander’s to control and assert power over them. Women are unable to read, only men are which enables Commanders to control and manipulate the truth “the bible is kept locked up… it is an incendiary device”. The metaphor is showing how the Bible is seen as a way of controlling women because if they were able to read, they would notice that they are not being told the whole truth. In Sonia Chadha’s article Women as Metaphor she explains “how the word ‘handmaid’ is only a euphemism for a slave girl”, this is because handmaids are only recognised and defined by their job, their duty to the commanders and the wives and are reduced to their function as fertility objects. Since Offred is handmaid she is already a powerless
Open Document