The Handmaid’s Tale Flashcards
What are the Wives?
Like Serena Joy they are married to high ranking male officials (commanders) and therefore enjoy liberty more than the others. They can smoke, use make-up, mirrors due to their husbands more ‘elite’ status in society
What are the Aunts?
An infertile woman who has been given a position of command over other women. She will not be sent to the colonies or disposed of, and in exchange she must keep the Handmaids in line and assist with official duties such as births, Prayvaganzas and Salvagings. Most likely the Aunts are ‘true believers’ who had a certain amount of power before the regime
What are the Handmaids?
A woman with viable ovaries who pre-Gilead was either divorced, married to a man who had been divorced, or (presumably) had reached certain age without ever marrying. The Handmaids are assigned to a Commander for a period of two years. If they conceive and give birth to a baby (rather than an un-baby) they will continue to serve as Handmaids until their term is up, but they will never be sent to the Colognies. After two years, a Handmaids is moved to a different hous. After three houses, if the Handmaids has not had a child, she is sent to the Colonies of ‘shredded’
What are the Econowives?
Men without power or money, but who had legal wives before the Gillead take-over, were allowed to keep their wives, but were not assigned Martha’s or Handmaids. Thus, these women are called Econowives, because they must fill the function of all the other ‘kinds’ of women
What is a Martha?
A woman without viable ovaries who acts as a cook or general servant in the house of a Commander. Most were presumably in similar jobs before the regime
What are Jezebels?
An old-fashioned term for a woman who is regarded as evil or morally corrupt. It comes from an Old Testament story about a Phoenician Princess named Jezebel who encouraged idolatry
What are Unwoman?
A woman without viable ivariws who does not serve any useful purpose for society, and who is either sent to the Colonies or killed
What is sequential construal?
Offred’s boredom and constrained viewpoint is often conveyed to us through static descriptions- frequently involving different types of listing. Her static, detailed description of her bedroom floor, for example, which is just one part of her cataloguing the contents of her bedroom in sequence.
What type of construal is ‘…the floor, which is made of wood, in narrow strips, highly polished’ ?
What is objective construal?
Offred’s attempts to control and contain her emotional response to Gillead often appears in vague, unspecific and detached language. In this way, she represents her bedroom using a very indefinite and generalised schema-
