Context Handmaids Tale Flashcards
What were the ‘Salem witch trials’ and what group were they an act of?
The Salem witch trials were an act of the ‘Puritans’ that occurred in colonial Massachusetts between early 1692 and mid-1693.
More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were executed.
Serena Joy was based on…
Phyllis Schlaffley, a public advocate for the role of domestic women.
She was a televangelist in the 1900s who advocated for the role of women in domestic situations.
She is the perfect example of internalised mysoginy, where women uphold the patriarchy, regardless of the implications it has on their own life.
Moira’s name comes from…
the ancient greek word for fate, ‘Moirai’
This is interesting as she constantly attempts to subvert her own fate, not simply accepting it as the other girls do in the red centre.
An example of this is her attempt to escape.
Genesis 30 (old testament)
“And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children she said unto Jacob, give me children or else I die”
This ties into the fact that the Handmaid’s will be killed if they can’t produce kids.
Atwood was very influenced by the idea of “L’ecri…
“L’ecriture féminine” (woman’s writing) a concept first used in the essay “The laugh of medusa” by Hélène Cixous in 1975, the idea behind it is shown here…
“A Woman must write her self, must write about women and bring them to writing, from which they have been driven away as violently as from their bodies” (Hélène Cixous)
Therefore Offred’s obsession with her own body is an example of “L’ecriture féminine”. She doesn’t see sex only for reproduction, constantly longing for “love”, not just in the wholesome sense but also sex and wanting to feel desired, a “hungry touch”
