The Handmaid’s Tale
The female body and reproduction:
● Chapter 5: ‘Gilead is within you’- It is not just a place but instead a regime that the
Handmaid’s must internalise and connect with
● Chapter 5: ‘her belly swells triumphantly’- heightened language around the pregnant
Handmaid’s. She is now an object of desire and jealousy as she will not become an
Unwoman
● Chapter 11: ‘He deals with torso only’- in the doctor's office. Chest to stomach is the
womb and reproductive organs. Offred looks like a dismembered body part. Mirrors how
Gilead views Handmaids. Like the monster’s creation
● Chapter 12: ‘My nakedness feels strange to me, my body already feels outdated’-
detachment from self. Linked to the monster looking in the pond and Narcissus
● Chapter 13: ‘I used to think of my body as an instrument for pleasure
● Chapter 13: ‘I'm a cloud, congealed around a central object, in the shape of a pear’-
her physical appearance is the shape of the pear, a fruit associated with fertility and a
womanly figure. The cloud is water vapour, no substance ‘that glows read within’- The
Handmaid’s identity and fertility are embedded deep inside them
● Chapter 16: ‘Below me, the Commander is fucking. What he is fucking is the lower
part of my body’- Frankenstein’s creation. Identity shift. Offred looks at herself as
disassembled body parts. Fucking has no respect or equality. Only 1 person is involved.
● Chapter 16: ‘withdraws, receded, rezippers’- The mechanised nature of sex in Gildead
is not an act of love like in the past, but rather violent, controlled and mechanical
● Chapter 23: ‘two-legged wombs’
● Chapter 23: ‘ambulatory chalices’
● Chapter 34: ‘Fertilising away like mad, like a rutting salmon’- Offred imagines the
commander during the Ceremony. He has a sense of disconnect
Flowers:
● Chapter 4: ‘damp, humid air’- the description of Serena Joy’s garden is like a vagina
● Chapter 4: ‘there are worms, evidence of fertility in the soil’- worms merge creation
and death. It speeds up the process of decay. The image is a paradox of the role of the
Handmaid’s. They have a stale, death-like existence
● Chapter 8: The tulips in Serena Joy’s garden mirror the Handmaid’s as they are both a
symbol of fertility and red. Offred distinguishes and connects to the tulips as they are
distinguishable and a way for her to resist control and remain human
● Chapter 8: ‘the tulips along the border are redder than ever’ ‘when they are old
they turn themselves inside out, then explode slowly’- The commander’s wife is
ageing. Alludes to infertility with age. In Gilead, women are self-destructive if they cannot
have children.
● Chapter 17: ‘crisp at the edges where they have dried, limp towards the stems’-
daffodils symbolise spring and new life. Dying out hope
, ● Chapter 25: ‘the tulips had their moment and are now done, shedding their petals
one by one, like teeth’- Serena Joy’s controlling nature. Petals are delicate, it is an
oxymoron when contrasted with teeth.
● Chapter 25: ‘she was snipping off the seed pods with a pair of sheers’- it is a
reclamation of power, comparable to Victor. Destruction of the genitalia of flowers:
women in Gilead are too old to fulfil the purpose of reclaiming back power to preserve
energy. Serena Joy has no control as a mother so she tries to regain power by permitting
Offred to enter
● Chapter 25: ‘something subversed about this garden of Serena’s’ ‘buried things
bursting upwards, wordlessly, into the light’- women in Gilead are silenced but have
the potential to use their voices
Female identity:
● Chapter 25: ‘they dealt with transformations’ one adventure after another, one
wardrobe after another, one improvement after another, one man after another’-
female identity is in a constant stage of reconstruction
● Chapter 25: ‘the real promise was immortality’- want to be immortalised. In modern
society, the female identity is perpetually reconstructed. The female identity is about
reconstruction
● Chapter 5: ‘delicate instruments of torture’- In reaction to the tourists. Offred aligns
herself with the male gaze. She craves being viewed in this way, having an identity
beyond the Handmaids.
Clothing:
● Why Handmaids wear red: “German prisoners of war held in Canada [in WWII] were
given red outfits because they show up so well against the snow,” she said. (In “The
Handmaid’s Tale,” some Handmaid's try to escape Gilead, the hierarchical regime under
which they live.) or Red was also the colour of “Mediaeval, early renaissance painting,”
Atwood said, and the colour worn by Mary Magdalene, who is often remembered, many
remember as a fallen woman.
● Chapter 2: ‘they keep us from being seen, but also seeing’- wings prevent women
from being seen—symbolization of restriction. The name is ironic as wings suggest
freedom. Wings= angels, women can be angels or whores. Atwood said the wings were
inspired by 1940s Old Dutch Cleanser packages that scared her as a child.
● Chapter 4: ‘white tunnels of cloth’- Atwood said that she made the wings white as it is
a colour associated with being unlucky as widows in India wear it, despite it being
viewed as lucky in others.
● Chapter 5: ‘modesty is invisibility’ ‘to be seen is to be penetrated’- Aunt Lydia
suggests that individuality is impossible. How the Handmaids are treated by others is
their responsibility. Men have no accountability.
● Chapter 5: ‘delicate instruments of torture’- Offted sees the tourists as reminders
of the past. Her description of them is sexualised. Through conditioning, in this
moment, Offred aligns herself with the male gaze.
The female body and reproduction:
● Chapter 5: ‘Gilead is within you’- It is not just a place but instead a regime that the
Handmaid’s must internalise and connect with
● Chapter 5: ‘her belly swells triumphantly’- heightened language around the pregnant
Handmaid’s. She is now an object of desire and jealousy as she will not become an
Unwoman
● Chapter 11: ‘He deals with torso only’- in the doctor's office. Chest to stomach is the
womb and reproductive organs. Offred looks like a dismembered body part. Mirrors how
Gilead views Handmaids. Like the monster’s creation
● Chapter 12: ‘My nakedness feels strange to me, my body already feels outdated’-
detachment from self. Linked to the monster looking in the pond and Narcissus
● Chapter 13: ‘I used to think of my body as an instrument for pleasure
● Chapter 13: ‘I'm a cloud, congealed around a central object, in the shape of a pear’-
her physical appearance is the shape of the pear, a fruit associated with fertility and a
womanly figure. The cloud is water vapour, no substance ‘that glows read within’- The
Handmaid’s identity and fertility are embedded deep inside them
● Chapter 16: ‘Below me, the Commander is fucking. What he is fucking is the lower
part of my body’- Frankenstein’s creation. Identity shift. Offred looks at herself as
disassembled body parts. Fucking has no respect or equality. Only 1 person is involved.
● Chapter 16: ‘withdraws, receded, rezippers’- The mechanised nature of sex in Gildead
is not an act of love like in the past, but rather violent, controlled and mechanical
● Chapter 23: ‘two-legged wombs’
● Chapter 23: ‘ambulatory chalices’
● Chapter 34: ‘Fertilising away like mad, like a rutting salmon’- Offred imagines the
commander during the Ceremony. He has a sense of disconnect
Flowers:
● Chapter 4: ‘damp, humid air’- the description of Serena Joy’s garden is like a vagina
● Chapter 4: ‘there are worms, evidence of fertility in the soil’- worms merge creation
and death. It speeds up the process of decay. The image is a paradox of the role of the
Handmaid’s. They have a stale, death-like existence
● Chapter 8: The tulips in Serena Joy’s garden mirror the Handmaid’s as they are both a
symbol of fertility and red. Offred distinguishes and connects to the tulips as they are
distinguishable and a way for her to resist control and remain human
● Chapter 8: ‘the tulips along the border are redder than ever’ ‘when they are old
they turn themselves inside out, then explode slowly’- The commander’s wife is
ageing. Alludes to infertility with age. In Gilead, women are self-destructive if they cannot
have children.
● Chapter 17: ‘crisp at the edges where they have dried, limp towards the stems’-
daffodils symbolise spring and new life. Dying out hope
, ● Chapter 25: ‘the tulips had their moment and are now done, shedding their petals
one by one, like teeth’- Serena Joy’s controlling nature. Petals are delicate, it is an
oxymoron when contrasted with teeth.
● Chapter 25: ‘she was snipping off the seed pods with a pair of sheers’- it is a
reclamation of power, comparable to Victor. Destruction of the genitalia of flowers:
women in Gilead are too old to fulfil the purpose of reclaiming back power to preserve
energy. Serena Joy has no control as a mother so she tries to regain power by permitting
Offred to enter
● Chapter 25: ‘something subversed about this garden of Serena’s’ ‘buried things
bursting upwards, wordlessly, into the light’- women in Gilead are silenced but have
the potential to use their voices
Female identity:
● Chapter 25: ‘they dealt with transformations’ one adventure after another, one
wardrobe after another, one improvement after another, one man after another’-
female identity is in a constant stage of reconstruction
● Chapter 25: ‘the real promise was immortality’- want to be immortalised. In modern
society, the female identity is perpetually reconstructed. The female identity is about
reconstruction
● Chapter 5: ‘delicate instruments of torture’- In reaction to the tourists. Offred aligns
herself with the male gaze. She craves being viewed in this way, having an identity
beyond the Handmaids.
Clothing:
● Why Handmaids wear red: “German prisoners of war held in Canada [in WWII] were
given red outfits because they show up so well against the snow,” she said. (In “The
Handmaid’s Tale,” some Handmaid's try to escape Gilead, the hierarchical regime under
which they live.) or Red was also the colour of “Mediaeval, early renaissance painting,”
Atwood said, and the colour worn by Mary Magdalene, who is often remembered, many
remember as a fallen woman.
● Chapter 2: ‘they keep us from being seen, but also seeing’- wings prevent women
from being seen—symbolization of restriction. The name is ironic as wings suggest
freedom. Wings= angels, women can be angels or whores. Atwood said the wings were
inspired by 1940s Old Dutch Cleanser packages that scared her as a child.
● Chapter 4: ‘white tunnels of cloth’- Atwood said that she made the wings white as it is
a colour associated with being unlucky as widows in India wear it, despite it being
viewed as lucky in others.
● Chapter 5: ‘modesty is invisibility’ ‘to be seen is to be penetrated’- Aunt Lydia
suggests that individuality is impossible. How the Handmaids are treated by others is
their responsibility. Men have no accountability.
● Chapter 5: ‘delicate instruments of torture’- Offted sees the tourists as reminders
of the past. Her description of them is sexualised. Through conditioning, in this
moment, Offred aligns herself with the male gaze.
