|
|
This is only a preview of the paper
Click here to register and get the full text.
Existing members click here to login
|
|
|
Analytical Essay on “The Handmaid’s Tale”.
How Well Does The Text You Read Fit Into The Dystopian Tradition?
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood possesses characteristics and techniques of the Dystopian Tradition. ... This is the exact situation in The Handmaid’s Tale. ... This storyline, in dystopian tradition, is purely about survival, and living with the everyday torment of life as a Handmaid. ...
The Handmaid’s Tale clearly holds this dystopian quality. ...
The Handmaid’s Tale is the development of this fear, therefore fitting in to the feminist dystopian tradition.
Dystopian novels are usually extremely controversial because they are based on political ideology.
In The Handmaid’s Tale, religious connotations are used for political purposes. ...
The Handmaid’s Tale is extremely controversial because religious connotations are used in the attempt to make the citizens of Gilead believe that what is being done politically is the right thing to do, and to believe and idolise that. This makes the novel a feminist dystopian one, because the treatment of the women as a result of this attitude is so obviously wrong and immoral, teetering on the brink of becoming blasphemous, but is still not stopped because it is seen as the “political ideal”.
The use of motif in The Handmaid’s Tale is vital in fitting into the dystopian tradition. ... But while the official penalty for rape is terrible, with the Handmaids in one scene literally tearing apart a man who supposedly committed rape but was in actual fact a member of the group “Mayday”, Gilead actually institutionalises sexual violence. ...
Sexual violence is present in the central part of the novel, the Ceremony, in which the Handmaids are forced to have sex with their Commanders. ...
Symbolism arises throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, and is highlighted effectively through the use of descriptive language. ... This is extremely ironic, considering Gilead’s new order is that Handmaids must be present in the family home so the husband can have sex with her! ... The incorporation of all the colours symbolises the fact that they do everything for themselves – Wives, Handmaids and Marthas in one group. ...
The Handmaids are clothed in red, symbolising blood and fertility. ... Red also symbolises hatred and anger, emotions that all the Handmaids are subjected to by the Wives. In Biblical times, prostitutes wore red and hung red ribbons from their doors to advertise their availability, and this therefore symbolises the sinfulness of the Handmaids in society. ...
Symbolism on all accounts helps to create the feminist dystopian society in The Handmaid’s Tale, because it strongly and descriptively displays the issues that Gileaden society has, and the ways in which all females are oppressed.
Dystopian novels about the dangers of a totalitarian society frequently explore the connection between a state’s repression of its subjects and the perversion of language.
The Handmaid’s Tale carries on this tradition of maintaining control over women, by maintaining control over their names. Whereas men are described by their military rank, women are defined by their gender roles as “Marthas” “Handmaids” and “Wives”. ...
The use of this language aids The Handmaid’s Tale in fitting into the dystopian tradition, because it highlights the totalitarian society. ...
All these women have endured oppression, with small amounts of power or freedom, and as a result aid Gilead in becoming a totalitarian society, and the novel a dystopian one, fitting into the tradition. ...
In The Handmaid’s Tale, the Eyes watch the Handmaid’s every move, as do they watch everyone else’s.
Approximate Word count = 2842
Approximate Pages = 11.4
(250 words per page double spaced)
|
|
|
|
|
|