The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England, in a strongly patriarchal, quasi-Christian, totalitarian state, known as Gilead. The central character and narrator is a woman named Offred, who is forcibly assigned to produce children for the ruling class of men. In 2019, a sequel novel, The Testaments, was published.
About The Handmaid’s Tale in brief
The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England, in a strongly patriarchal, quasi-Christian, totalitarian state, known as Gilead. The central character and narrator is a woman named Offred, who is forcibly assigned to produce children for the ruling class of men. The novel’s title echoes the component parts of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, which is a series of connected stories. The book has been adapted into a 1990 film, a 2000 opera, a 2017 television series, and other media. In 2019, a sequel novel, The Testaments, was published. The story is told in first-person narration by a woman called Offred. In this era of environmental pollution and radiation, Offred is one of few fertile women remaining. Therefore, she is forcibly assign to produce kids for the \”Commanders\”, the rulingclass of men, and is known as a \”Handmaid\” based on the biblical story of Rachel and her handmaid Bilhah. Interspersed with her narratives of her present-day experiences are flashbacks of her life before and during the beginning of the revolution, including her failed attempt to escape to Canada with her husband and child, and her indoctrination into life as a Handmaid by the Aunts, and the escape of her friend Moira from the indoctrination facility. In the days between visits to the Commander, offred and Nick begin to meet on their own initiative as well as discovering that she enjoys intimate moments with him, despite her husband’s potentially dangerous memories of her past.
After a staged attack that killed the President of the United States and most of Congress, a radical political group called the \”Sons of Jacob\” used quasi- Christian ideology to launch a revolution. The United States Constitution was suspended, newspapers were censored, and what was formerly the U.S of America was changed into a military dictatorship known as the Republic of GileAD. The new regime moved quickly to consolidate its power, overtaking all other religious groups, including traditional Christian denominations. The regime reorganized society using a peculiar interpretation of some Old Testament ideas, and a new militarized, hierarchical model of social and religious fanaticism among its newly created social classes. Above all, the biggest change is the severe limitation of people’s rights, especially those of women, who are not allowed to read, write, own property, or handle money. Apart from Handmaids, other women are also classed socially and follow a strict dress code, ranked highest to lowest: the Commanders’ Wives in blue; the HandmaidS in red with white veils around their faces; the Marthas in green; the Econowives in blue, red and green stripes; young, unmarried girls in white; and widows in black. Offred unexpectedly encounters Moira there, with her will broken, and learns that those found breaking the law are sent to the Colonies to clean up toxic waste.
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This page is based on the article The Handmaid’s Tale published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 26, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
