"The Handmaid's Tale" and Feminism

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews the literary novel "The Handmaids's Tale" by Margaret Atwood. The writer raises a number of feminist issues through the main character, a young woman known as Offred, who is forced into slavery as a handmaid, or surrogate mother, for a powerful couple that cannot have children of their own. This story is set in a future where such arrangements have become routine. The paper also looks at related issues such as reproductive rights of women in the future and abuse.

From the Paper:

"The unwomen symbolize the female before becoming a woman, meaning before being assigned to her "proper" social role. These women will be surrogate mothers, and they symbolize freedom from a certain tedious work even as they symbolize being chained to their biological role. The unified names -- Ofglen and Offred -- symbolize a certain freeing of women from the names and identities of the past but also symbolize a new kind of prison, linking the women to men through their names. For the traditional wife there is only a narrowing of interests and possibilities for development. Now the woman has an occupation and is allowed no emotional life at all."

More papers on "The Handmaid's Tale" and Feminism:

• Analytical Essay # 26568 : "The City of "The Handmaid's Tale"
• Analytical Essay # 83 : " Self-Recognition in Atwood's Novel "The Handmaid's Tale"
• Comparison Essay # 96475 : "Bellamy and Atwood"

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