An Analysis and Comparison of the Role of Women in Handmaid Tale
The novel by Margaret Atwood’s, the Handmaid Tale is focused on the on a society where men oppress women. A Gilead society is used to depict the model and structure of the society in context. The people who live in this society are portrayed as haters of all the things that the society stands for. The Gilead society is informed by the traditional values as well as the scripture (Bradstreet 180). The society from its nascent state is characterized by low birth rates, environmental pollution, and HIV/Aids infection. As a result of the polluted environment, women are made to live with the abject fear of rape and abuse. Women have lost their glory; they have no freedom, they are prepared to remain in the homesteads, they are made to believe that their duties are to take care of their family, cook and entertain their husbands.
The Gilead society is racist; the people are said to be anti-Semitic, this factor is attributed to the fact that, the only Christian religion is allowed to exist there. The customs and norms governing the society are based on the anti-colonial rule, where those who are found to violate the established law are subjected to the colonies wrath. Among the resident’s women are the most affected, in the eyes of men, they are considered as nothing, they are termed as “two-legged-womb” persons, who have no say in the Gilead society (Bloom 87). The rules are made to favour men and the few women who cannot withstand the heat are driven away.
To ensure that women remain subject to men, they are categorised into groups which enable men to receive the maximum of their services. The few valuable women are labelled the Handmaid (Bradstreet 180). These women have a chance to enjoy some freedom though they are still humiliated and made to serve men. They sometimes enjoy the benefits of second chances as they are fertile and productive. Their primary role is to get pregnancy and give birth. She still stands to face the threats of being transported to the colonies as an unknown person. It is unfortunate because these women if they fail to bear children they are condemned to death. The Gilead society has justified the act by alluding to the Bible in the book of Genesis 30:1-3. It is evident that women have no space in the Gilead as their roles are not recognised. There are merely treated as aliens, the only tasks they can perform are those lowly jobs that the society find nothing worth out of them. From this analogy, one can openly say that those women who cannot give birth, or those who are infertile are treated more inhumanely (Orme). They are considered as animals and not women or anything related to human being. Instead, they are given away to the colonies who mistreat them even further.
The plight of women in the Handmaid Tale is portrayed to have been overlooked and harshly abused by this Gilead society that is characterised by the religious fundamentals and patriarchal society. The author because of the stand she has shown in depicting the position of women in the Gilead society is mistaken with a feminist and an anti-religious.
On the contrary, the traditional women in the Puritan society are treated with uttermost respect. They are associated well with being mothers (Baxter 28). They never see these roles as forms of punishment, they were comfortable and did not bother to fight for identities as what is being seen and felt in the current society. Researches have confirmed that puritan women showed an aspect of contentment, and they highly applauded their traditional women related roles. They perceived such purposes such as raising kids with passion; they viewed it as procreation aspect, thus the concept of serving God. As unlike in the Gilead society, women in the Puritan world considered their husband as unique men whose role was leading, offering protection to the family and providing the necessary requirements to his family. To them, children were a privilege and something which facilitated the procreation aspect between her and his husband. Additionally, puritan women used their skills to enhance their homes, and writing poetry.
In the Puritan society, those who were found to speak ill of marriage were viewed as trying to impeach God and the truth, being a religious society, marriage was considered to be holy and sacred, for as much as they did not find it as a sacrament, they viewed it as a joyous union where a husband and a wife were to love one another. Failure to do so was termed as disobeying God. Biblical connotations are used to cement the concept of marriage, where the book of 1st Corinthians 7 is used to instruct what a man and a woman need to do to ensure a happy marriage, a man is taught to love her wife and a woman in the same way she is told to respect his man (Baxter 30). They are supposed to treat one another with a sign of affectionate.
In conclusion, it is clear that women in the two societies viewed marriage from different angles, the women in the Gilead society were reduced into mere objects whose tasks were to entertain a man, get pregnant and be dumped. They were viewed as nothing; their voice was not heard or listened too. However, this is in contrary with what has been presented in the Puritan society. The women in the Puritan society associate well with their traditional roles, which the term them as a privilege. Giving birth to them is a sign of God’s blessings. They highly respect men and considered them as head of the families. With my understanding, the different scenarios are informed by the different environments. Those societies which are religious and being led by religious codes as well as those that are anti-religious.
Works Cited
Baxter, Richard. Richard Baxter and Margaret Charlton: A Puritan Love Story; Being the Breviate of the Life of Margaret Baxter. London: Unwin Brothers Ltd., 1928.
Bloom, Harold. The Handmaid’s Tale. Infobase Publishing, 2009.
Bradstreet, Anne. The Complete Works of Anne Bradstreet. Edited by Joseph R. McElrath, Jr. and Allan P. Robb. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1981, 180.
Orme, William. The Practical Works of the Rev. Richard Baxter, Vol. 2 of 23: With Life of the Author, and a Critical Examination of His Writings. London: Fb&c Limited, 2017.
An Analysis and Comparison of the Role of Women in Handmaid Tale
The novel by Margaret Atwood’s, the Handmaid Tale is focused on the on a society where men oppress women. A Gilead society is used to depict the model and structure of the society in context. The people who live in this society are portrayed as haters of all the things that the society stands for. The Gilead society is informed by the traditional values as well as the scripture (Bradstreet 180). The society from its nascent state is characterized by low birth rates, environmental pollution, and HIV/Aids infection. As a result of the polluted environment, women are made to live with the abject fear of rape and abuse. Women have lost their glory; they have no freedom, they are prepared to remain in the homesteads, they are made to believe that their duties are to take care of their family, cook and entertain their husbands.
The Gilead society is racist; the people are said to be anti-Semitic, this factor is attributed to the fact that, the only Christian religion is allowed to exist there. The customs and norms governing the society are based on the anti-colonial rule, where those who are found to violate the established law are subjected to the colonies wrath. Among the resident’s women are the most affected, in the eyes of men, they are considered as nothing, they are termed as “two-legged-womb” persons, who have no say in the Gilead society (Bloom 87). The rules are made to favour men and the few women who cannot withstand the heat are driven away.
To ensure that women remain subject to men, they are categorised into groups which enable men to receive the maximum of their services. The few valuable women are labelled the Handmaid (Bradstreet 180). These women have a chance to enjoy some freedom though they are still humiliated and made to serve men. They sometimes enjoy the benefits of second chances as they are fertile and productive. Their primary role is to get pregnancy and give birth. She still stands to face the threats of being transported to the colonies as an unknown person. It is unfortunate because these women if they fail to bear children they are condemned to death. The Gilead society has justified the act by alluding to the Bible in the book of Genesis 30:1-3. It is evident that women have no space in the Gilead as their roles are not recognised. There are merely treated as aliens, the only tasks they can perform are those lowly jobs that the society find nothing worth out of them. From this analogy, one can openly say that those women who cannot give birth, or those who are infertile are treated more inhumanely (Orme). They are considered as animals and not women or anything related to human being. Instead, they are given away to the colonies who mistreat them even further.
The plight of women in the Handmaid Tale is portrayed to have been overlooked and harshly abused by this Gilead society that is characterised by the religious fundamentals and patriarchal society. The author because of the stand she has shown in depicting the position of women in the Gilead society is mistaken with a feminist and an anti-religious.
On the contrary, the traditional women in the Puritan society are treated with uttermost respect. They are associated well with being mothers (Baxter 28). They never see these roles as forms of punishment, they were comfortable and did not bother to fight for identities as what is being seen and felt in the current society. Researches have confirmed that puritan women showed an aspect of contentment, and they highly applauded their traditional women related roles. They perceived such purposes such as raising kids with passion; they viewed it as procreation aspect, thus the concept of serving God. As unlike in the Gilead society, women in the Puritan world considered their husband as unique men whose role was leading, offering protection to the family and providing the necessary requirements to his family. To them, children were a privilege and something which facilitated the procreation aspect between her and his husband. Additionally, puritan women used their skills to enhance their homes, and writing poetry.
In the Puritan society, those who were found to speak ill of marriage were viewed as trying to impeach God and the truth, being a religious society, marriage was considered to be holy and sacred, for as much as they did not find it as a sacrament, they viewed it as a joyous union where a husband and a wife were to love one another. Failure to do so was termed as disobeying God. Biblical connotations are used to cement the concept of marriage, where the book of 1st Corinthians 7 is used to instruct what a man and a woman need to do to ensure a happy marriage, a man is taught to love her wife and a woman in the same way she is told to respect his man (Baxter 30). They are supposed to treat one another with a sign of affectionate.
In conclusion, it is clear that women in the two societies viewed marriage from different angles, the women in the Gilead society were reduced into mere objects whose tasks were to entertain a man, get pregnant and be dumped. They were viewed as nothing; their voice was not heard or listened too. However, this is in contrary with what has been presented in the Puritan society. The women in the Puritan society associate well with their traditional roles, which the term them as a privilege. Giving birth to them is a sign of God’s blessings. They highly respect men and considered them as head of the families. With my understanding, the different scenarios are informed by the different environments. Those societies which are religious and being led by religious codes as well as those that are anti-religious.
Works Cited
Baxter, Richard. Richard Baxter and Margaret Charlton: A Puritan Love Story; Being the Breviate of the Life of Margaret Baxter. London: Unwin Brothers Ltd., 1928.
Bloom, Harold. The Handmaid’s Tale. Infobase Publishing, 2009.
Bradstreet, Anne. The Complete Works of Anne Bradstreet. Edited by Joseph R. McElrath, Jr. and Allan P. Robb. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1981, 180.
Orme, William. The Practical Works of the Rev. Richard Baxter, Vol. 2 of 23: With Life of the Author, and a Critical Examination of His Writings. London: Fb&c Limited, 2017.
