Handmaids Tale- context Flashcards
what book characterised feelings of frustration of women in second wave feminism
“The Feminine Mystique” (1969) by American writer Betty Friedan
In chapter 7, what does offred see on her walk with her mum
feminists protesting misogynistic nature of pornography, yet she seems to observe these politics from a distance offering the reader to place their own judgement
what was US president at time of writing
second year of the Reagan administration (republican 1981-1989)
1980s saw an increase in pressure on government from…
the christian right wing, when regan also pushed conservatism and ‘family values’
who were the Moral Majority
a christian group that existed to fight what they saw as a secularisation of American society.
- they believed American was a fundamental religious nation
- Atwood was therefore directly speculating on what could have happened if they took power
which televangelist was often cited as possible model for Serena Joy
Phyllis Schlaffy.
she was a lawyer = hypocrisy
By 1984, what was the Aids epidemic like, and how does it link to Handmaids Tale
4,000 people had died of the virus, and homophobic moral panic was growing in mainstream media.
• In the historical notes we learn Professor Piexoto that the reduced fertility rate in Gilead was a result of an STD that produced infertility.
what book exposed for the first the adverse effects of pesticides and chemicals on the environment
“Silent Spring” (1962) Rachel Carson
book that for the first time exposed the audience to the adverse effects of pesticides and chemicals on the environment
“Silent Spring” (1962) Rachel Carson
How do we see environmental issues discussed in “Silent Spring” in Handmaids Tale
when Offred mentions how grocery stores like “Loaves and fish” rarely open anymore because the seas are so polluted there are no more fish
how is the influence of “Silent Spring” shown in Handmaids Tale
when Offred mentions how grocery stores like “Loaves and Fishes” rarely open because the seas are so polluted there are no more fish
HT literary context-
control through language
Atwood used the word “Aunts” which has reassuring and comforting connotations and subverts it, using the word to label people who are key instruments of oppression.
- direct contextual link drawn through Orwell’s use of Newspeak in 1984
literary context-
control or manipulation of technology
Atwood alludes to the possibility of extreme social control using 1980s technology.
Lack of Technology is a way of the regime removing power from people, via lack of access to information
Handmaids Tale as “Feminine dystopia”
- Female narrator, told through a narrow female lens
- Subverts traditional masculine dystopian genre
- perspective on a chaotic futuristic “outer world” as well as her private “inner world”
link to Wyndhams novel
Clear Parallel can be drawn between Wyndhams novel and Atwoods description of the fate of unfit babies in Gilead, ominously referred to as ‘Unbabies’ or ‘shredder(s)’
- The Crysalids (1955) John Wyndham. brutal fundamentalist puritan society destroys babies with abnormalities in the name of ‘Purity of the race’
term for women’s literature
‘Lecriture feminine’ used first by Hélène Cixous in her essay ‘The laugh of the Medusa’ (1975)
“Women must write her self”
Traditionally male, white structures are often labelled by feminist critics as….
‘Phallocentric literature’ or ‘the master narrative’
“The Angel in the House” Coventry Patmore, here he described the perfect wife in poem
“man must be pleased; but him to please is woman’s pleasure”
underground resistance group context/link
the Underground Female road that smuggles women to Canada = named after real life **Underground railroad, **a group of people who helped slaves escape to the North in 1800s
Women on the Edge of time
(1976, Marge Piercy)
• utopian fiction, presented vision of utopia alongside technological dystopia
• contains topics of sex work, body control, mental health issues
• main character = woman of colour
