THE HANDMAID’S TALE CONTEXT
A-Level Exam Revision
A03:
Historical context (by theme)
Treatment of Women:
● Nazi Germany – Lebensborn Program: "Racially valuable" women forced to breed to fix
falling birth rates → parallels Handmaids as state breeders.
● Argentina (1976–1983): Pregnant prisoners kept alive, babies taken and adopted by
regime officials (“command system”) → Gilead’s child-stealing.
● Romania – Decree 770: Contraceptives & abortion banned, OB GYN exams with armed
guards → Gilead’s reproductive surveillance
● North America (1950s–70s): Forced adoptions of Indigenous & unwed mothers → Gilead
withdraws parental rights from Handmaids.
● Jezebel (Biblical): Portrayed as depraved, political woman → linked to the club
"Jezebels" where women are exploited for sex. Nazi Germany: Secret sex rings for
officials → Gilead’s moral façade yet explicit exploitation.
● Only in 1974 - women in the US able to open credit cards in their own name, separate
from their husbands. ‘Take Back the Night’ reference in the text - critical to 2nd wave
feminism, campaign against rape/sexual assault.
Religious Context:
● 1980s America: prominence of Christian fundamentalism under Reagan’s presidency.
Groups like the Moral Majority and Christian Coalition of America (Jerry Falwell, Pat
Robertson) who advocated for organised prayer in schools and anti-abortion laws →
leading to national anxiety over women’s reproductive rights.
● Atwood inspired by a Catholic cult in New Jersey (discovered through Associated Press).
Women called “Handmaids” (underlined by Atwood in her research), morally policed
each other. One of the cult’s rules: complete subservience to husbands.
● FLDS: religious polygamy, doctrine where only select men (“seed bearers”) were allowed
to impregnate women. Husbands had to hold their wives’ hands during the act - similar
to HMT and the role of the Wives during the Ceremony.
Symbolism:
● Colours - blue for Wives (symbolic of the Virgin Mary and ideas of purity), red for
Handmaids (reminiscent of Hester Prynne from ‘The Scarlet Letter’, sexual sins), WWII
POWs uniforms in Canada - (shows up against snow - made prisoners easy to spot,
Gilead & the Handmaids link).
● Elijah Mohammed - “You must remember that slave names will keep you a slave in the
eyes of the civilised world today.” - Offred’s name keeps her a Handmaid, limited.
A-Level Exam Revision
A03:
Historical context (by theme)
Treatment of Women:
● Nazi Germany – Lebensborn Program: "Racially valuable" women forced to breed to fix
falling birth rates → parallels Handmaids as state breeders.
● Argentina (1976–1983): Pregnant prisoners kept alive, babies taken and adopted by
regime officials (“command system”) → Gilead’s child-stealing.
● Romania – Decree 770: Contraceptives & abortion banned, OB GYN exams with armed
guards → Gilead’s reproductive surveillance
● North America (1950s–70s): Forced adoptions of Indigenous & unwed mothers → Gilead
withdraws parental rights from Handmaids.
● Jezebel (Biblical): Portrayed as depraved, political woman → linked to the club
"Jezebels" where women are exploited for sex. Nazi Germany: Secret sex rings for
officials → Gilead’s moral façade yet explicit exploitation.
● Only in 1974 - women in the US able to open credit cards in their own name, separate
from their husbands. ‘Take Back the Night’ reference in the text - critical to 2nd wave
feminism, campaign against rape/sexual assault.
Religious Context:
● 1980s America: prominence of Christian fundamentalism under Reagan’s presidency.
Groups like the Moral Majority and Christian Coalition of America (Jerry Falwell, Pat
Robertson) who advocated for organised prayer in schools and anti-abortion laws →
leading to national anxiety over women’s reproductive rights.
● Atwood inspired by a Catholic cult in New Jersey (discovered through Associated Press).
Women called “Handmaids” (underlined by Atwood in her research), morally policed
each other. One of the cult’s rules: complete subservience to husbands.
● FLDS: religious polygamy, doctrine where only select men (“seed bearers”) were allowed
to impregnate women. Husbands had to hold their wives’ hands during the act - similar
to HMT and the role of the Wives during the Ceremony.
Symbolism:
● Colours - blue for Wives (symbolic of the Virgin Mary and ideas of purity), red for
Handmaids (reminiscent of Hester Prynne from ‘The Scarlet Letter’, sexual sins), WWII
POWs uniforms in Canada - (shows up against snow - made prisoners easy to spot,
Gilead & the Handmaids link).
● Elijah Mohammed - “You must remember that slave names will keep you a slave in the
eyes of the civilised world today.” - Offred’s name keeps her a Handmaid, limited.
