'The Handmaid's Tale' AO5 Quotes Flashcards
Beranguage
“Offred’s power is in language” (Beran, 1990)
- Her storytelling gives her power and lives on after the regime has fallen
Stockwisz control
“Language is highlighted as the main instrument of ideological and social control” (Stockwisz)
Gray - plausibility
“Atwood’s novel lacks the direct, chilling plausibility of 1984” (Gray)
Kouhescastrophes
(Purpose of ‘THT’)
“To admonish the reader and make them think about all the catastrophes in their society” (Kouhestini)
Atwood on Orwell’s influence
“Orwell became a direct model” (Atwood, 2013)
Page - speaks
“Importantly, she speaks… suggesting that voice can ultimately triumph over forced muteness” (Page, 2018)
Ryan Reynolds says words
“THT is a novel that is about words, the manipulation of words, the construction of text” (Reynolds, 2004)
Simons currency
“Words, like ideas, are a forbidden currency in a regime that tries to control minds” (Simons, 2017)
Beauvoirdentity
“When a woman loses her reproductive capacity, she loses her primary function and therefore identity” (Beauvoir)
Myrsiades - slaves
“Reproductive slaves” (Myrsiades)
Cavalcanti - ceremony
“Monthly rape” (Cavalcanti)
Simons parallel
“Grotesque parallel of biblical values” (Simons, 2017)
Weissregime
“the Gilead regime is fairly new and has not had an opportunity to brainwash its citizens to such an extent” (Weiss, 2009)
- Compared to ‘1984’
Ehrenreich - SSWS
“Gilead is only a colouring book version of Oceania… Offred is a sappy stand-in for Winston Smith” (Ehrenreich)
SubversEhrenreich
“As in 1984, the only subversive force appears to be love” (Ehrenreich)
