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Edexcel English literature > The handmaids tale - dystopia > Flashcards

The handmaids tale - dystopia Flashcards

1
Q

when was the handmaids tale written

A

1985

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2
Q

who came up with the theory of a room of ones own and what was it

A

Virgina Woolf –> challenges the structure of patriarchy which has restrained female voice

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3
Q

who came up with the two concepts of liberty

A

Isaiah Berlin (freedom to and freedom from)
Gilead = freedom from

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4
Q

what is marxism

A

-capitalism as a structure of society that functions by trade and industry being privately owned

-social class bourgeoisie who privately own industry have dominance over the proletariat (workers) –> called hegemony

-eventually the proletariat would rise up against the bourgeoisie and cease ownership to share amongst all = communism

-If you were born a bourgeoisie that’s where you would stay and so would your children likewise for those of proletariat

-false consciousness –> foreman would be unwilling to admit they held such dominance over others

-Marxism is a social and political theory

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5
Q

what was Focault’s idea

A

idea of docile body through power vs bodily autonomy

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6
Q

what are women presented as

A

domestic and sexual commodities
bodies are political instruments for procreation

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7
Q

Name 5 main aspects of context in handmaids

A

-puritanism/fundamentalism
-environmentalism
-cold war
-nazi germany
-waves of feminism

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8
Q

what is the handmaids tale a cautionary tale against

A

consequences of unrestrained patriarchy

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9
Q

what is the genre of the handmaids tale

A

speculative dystopian fiction

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10
Q

what is double think

A

Derived from the novel 1984
Offred experiences this in chapter 20 for example due to her paradoxical thinking of Luke

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11
Q

what is the laugh of medusa

A

created by Helen Cixous –> deconstructing binary opposition of women in literature

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12
Q

what is the second sex

A

created by Simone de Beauvoir –> men fundamentally oppress women by naming them as the other

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13
Q

what does the transfer of handmaids from households represent

A

economizes the handmaids bodies for a useful purpose as domestic and reproductive commodities

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14
Q

describe puritanism in the handmaids tale

A

Studied by Atwood during her degree at Harvard
-religious fundamentalism

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15
Q

How does environmentalism link to this novel

A

Radioactive poisoning
Atwood dad was an entomologist

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16
Q

what genre is the handmaids tale

A

speculative dystopian fiction

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17
Q

what wave of feminism does handmaids particularly link to

A

2nd wave feminism

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18
Q

how does the cold war link

A

berlin wall –> wall where salvagings take place

political oppression and power

declining birth rate

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19
Q

how does reaganism link to the handmaids tale

A

Reagan was a US president who advocated for conservative and traditional beliefs - he praised nuclear families and strove to ban abortions. Supported groups such as Moral majority

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20
Q

what rule did Atwood say about this novel

A

“not to include something humans havent already done”

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21
Q

what is the structure of the novel

A

fragmented narrative –> past vs present
first person narrative –> intensifies claustrophobic entrapment of women

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22
Q

what is a metanarrative

A

Refers to the narrator’s reflections on the act or process of narration; metafiction concerns comments on the fictionality and/or contstructedness of the narrative.

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23
Q

What occurs in Chapter 1

A

Offred flashbacks to the red centre –> an old gymnasium
-at night she and the other handmaids exchange names in secret acts of defiance
-fragmented novel / 1st person narrator
-women identified experience

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24
Q

What occurs in chapter 2

A

Offred describes her room in the Commanders house which is sparse and characterless
-explicit references to suicide
-marthas treat handmaids with hostility

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25
Q

What occurs in chapter 3

A

Flashback to the conversation between Offred and Serena joy when Offred first arrives at the commanders house

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26
Q

What occurs in chapter 4

A

Offred sees Nick who winks at her
-Offred flirts with a guard at the checkpoint as she goes shopping with Ofglen

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27
Q

What occurs in chapter 5

A

Offred and Ofglen wait in the line at the shops
-remembers past where women could be catcalled etc
-Janine (a pregnant handmaid) enters the store
-Offred reminsces on Luke
-Offred and Ofglen encounter japanese tourists

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28
Q

What occurs in chapter 6

A

Ofglen and Offred pass the wall on the way back from shopping
-Offred feels grateful that none of those bodies were Luke
-She thinks of Aunt Lydia telling the handmaids to start new lives

29
Q

What occurs in chapter 7

A

First night chapter
-Offred remembers school w Moria
-Offred remembers burning pornography magazines with with her mother (a radical feminist)
-Offred realises her daughter is taken from her

30
Q

what occurs in chapter 8

A

-After another shopping trip Offred and Ofglen notice 3 other bodies on the wall for gender treachery
-They notice an econowive with a dead baby in a jar
-Nick tries to make conversation with Offred
-Offred recalls Serena Joy’s former life giving speeches etc
-Commander stands outside Offred’s room

31
Q

What occurs in chapter 9

A

-offred remembers the hotel rooms she used to book to see Luke while they were having an affair

-“waiting room”

-Offred regrets that she did not fully appreciate the space she had and hyper fixates on specific aspects of the room

-Offred remembers examining the room in the commanders house and accounts a Latin phrase scratched on the floorboards “notile de bastardes carbdaroum)

-This quote gives Offred hope and almost comfort as if she is communicating with another women

-Later, she asks Rita who stayed in her room before her. Rita tells her to specify which one, implying that there were a number of Handmaids before her. Offred says, guessing, “[t]he lively one . . . with freckles.” Rita asks how Offred knew about her, but she refuses to tell Offred anything about the previous Handmaid beyond a vague statement that she did not work out.

32
Q

what occurs in chapter 10

A

-Offred sings amazing grace in her head which is now a forbidden song
-Summer is approaching
-Offred remembers Aunt Lydia mentioning the harassement etc women faced pre-Gilead
-Moria threw an underwhore party
-Offred sits by the window with a blue pillow embroidered faith as she watches the Commander drive away

33
Q

Chapter 11

A

-Offred goes to the doctor accompanied by two guardians
-the doctor speaks to offred and offers to have sex with her so she can get pregnant
-doctor calls the commanders too sterile to reproduce
-Offred declines his offer saying it is too dangerous
-Offred fears being sent of to the colonies

34
Q

Chapter 12

A

-Offred’s required bath day
-Offred refuses to see her own naked body
-Offred remembers the time her daughter was almost kidnapped
-Offred sees the tattoo of the Eye on her ankle
-Both Offred and Serena joy are too nervous
-Offred hides butter in her shoe

35
Q

Chapter 13

A

-Offred remembers paintings of harems and erotica from pre-gilead
-Offred flashbacks to the red centre when Moria first arrived
-Janine testifies how she was gang raped and thus aborted the baby. She is placed in the spotlight of blame
-Offred realises her body is nothing more than a means for reproduction
-Offred dreams about escaping with her daughter

36
Q

Chapter 14

A

-Evening before the ceremony
-the Commander is late so Serena joy lets the others watch the news
-Nick stands close to Offred touching her shoe
-resentment of children of ham shown on TV
-Offred remembers she and Luke trying to get fake passports

37
Q

Chapter 15

A

-Commander takes out the bible and reads it to everyone (Offred satires this act)
-Passages of childbearing are read for the emphasis of reproduction
-Flashback to the time moria attempted to escape the redcentre by faking an illness but was caught

38
Q

Chapter 16

A

-ceremony
-Offred lies head on Serena’s lap while the Commander impersonally fucks her
-Offred is wearing a red dress and tries to focus her thoughts on something else as a form of escapism
-Serena orders Offred to leave in spite of her needing to stay for 10 minutes to improve her chances of getting pregnant

39
Q

Chapter 17 (night)

A

-Offred uses the butter she stole as lotion
-Offred sneaks downstairs and decides to steal a daffodil for another handmaid to find
-Offred bumps into Nick where they share a passionate kiss
-Offred feels guilty bc of Luke
-Nick tells Offred the Commander wants to see her in his office tomorrow

40
Q

Chapter 18

A

-After returning to her room, Offred lies in her bed, remembering making love to Luke while her baby kicked inside her womb. She imagines Luke dead, his body lying in the thickets where they were caught trying to escape. She imagines that he is in prison. She also imagines that he made it safely across the border and that one day a message from him will come to her in some unexpected way. She believes in these three scenarios simultaneously, so that nothing will surprise her.

41
Q

Chapter 19

A

-Offred dreams of hugging her daughter but becomes mournful at this thought

-Offred dreams of her mother taking care of her
-Offred contemplates the beauty of a boiled egg in sunlight

-Janine is ready to have her baby and Offred is taken to witness it

-During the ride Offred wonders if Janine will give birth to a baby with birth defects

-Offred remembers Aunt Lydia talking about the Jezbels (women who did not want babies poisoned their bodies so they would be incapable of doing so)

-Aunt Lydia showed the handmaids a birth rate graph which was declining (Nazi Germany)

-Offred imagines the wives calling the handmaids sluts and unclean

42
Q

Chapter 20

A

-While Ofwarren gives birth, the wife lies as if giving birth herself

-the handmaids gather around the bed to watch

-Offred remembers when Aunt lydia showed the handmaids pornographic videos

-In one video Offred saw her mother as a young women marching in a feminist rally

-Offred wishes she could have her mother back

43
Q

Chapter 21

A

The Handmaids chant to help Janine give birth. One Handmaid asks Offred if she is looking for someone. Offred describes Moira, and the woman tells her she will keep an eye out for a woman of that description. The woman is looking for someone named Alma. She asks Offred what her real name is, but before Offred can reply, their conversation is cut short by a suspicious glance from an Aunt who heard the break in the chant. Just before the child is born, Janine (Ofwarren) and the Wife of Warren sit on the Birthing Stool together. The Wife sits above Janine. The baby is born: a girl with no visible birth defects. Everyone rejoices. The Wife climbs into bed, and the baby is given to her. The other Wives crowd around, pushing the Handmaids aside, and the Wife announces she will name the baby Angela. After the birth, Janine will nurse the baby for a few months, and then she will transfer to a new Commander. Since she has produced a child, she will never be declared an Unwoman and sent to the colonies.

44
Q

Chapter 22

A

-Driving back from the birth, Offred remembers Moria’s successful escape from the red centre
-This escape was a symbol of hope yet complicity for the handmaids

45
Q

Chapter 23

A

-Offred and Cora talk about the birth and Cora hopes Offred will become pregnant soon
-Offred meets the Commander in his office at night
-Commander asks Offred to play a game of scrabble with him and kiss him goodnight

46
Q

Chapter 24

A

-After leaving the Commander’s office, Offred recognises that she has to forget her old name and her past

-The commander’s unorthodox behaviour allows Offred to gain something out of it

-She remembers that underneath all of Aunt Lydia’s speeches, the real message seemed to be that men are “sex machines” and should be manipulated with sex.

-Offred remembers watching a documentary about the holocaust who was interviewing a Nazi’s mistress

-the mistress denied knowledge about death camps and states the Nazi was not a monster

-Days later the mistress killed herself

-Suddenly, sitting on her bed and undressing, Offred finds the events of the night incredibly funny. Laughter threatens to erupt, and she struggles to keep it down. In the dark, she stumbles into the closet (she also calls it a cupboard), where the Latin phrase Nolite te bastardes carborundorum is written. She falls asleep on the floor with her head resting in the closet.

47
Q

Chapter 25

A

-In the morning Cora finds Offred sleeping on the floor. She screams and drops the plate

-Offred tells cora she fainted

-As seasons change from spring the summer Offred still sneaks into the Commander’s office

-Offred says that she sees no old women and doesn’t really know where they go

48
Q

Chapter 26

A

-Now that Offred is “friends” with the Commander she feels embarrassed to have sex with him at the ceremony

-Offred still hates Serena joy and is jealous of her

-The commander touches Offred’s face during the ceremony and she tells him not to as if Serena joy saw she could be sent back to the colonies but he says he finds the sex impersonal

-Offred remembers Aunt Lydia telling the Handmaids that the population would eventually reach an acceptable level, at which point the Handmaids would live in only one household, instead of getting transferred, and Handmaids would become like daughters to the Wives.

49
Q

Chapter 27

A

-Ofglen and Offred are more comfortable with eachother and continue to make shopping trips together

-Loaves and fishes rarely opens as the seas have become so polluted very few fish live there

-They continue to visit the wall and Offred wonders if Luke is imprisoned behind the wall in the detention centre

-Ofglen and Offred stop at a store called soul scrolls that prints prayers

-Ofglen asks Offred if she believes that God listens and Offred replied no thus forming an alliance between the two women as they both just commited treason

-Offred is tremendously excited. She learns that Ofglen is part of a group of subversives. As they walk home, a black van painted with a white-winged eye (the symbol of the Eyes) stops abruptly. Offred fears that perhaps her conversation with Ofglen was recorded, but the two Eyes who jump out grab a man carrying a briefcase. They drag him into the vehicle and drive away, and Offred feels tremendous relief.

50
Q

Chapter 28

A

-Offred states how Moria disapproved of her relationship with Luke and it is revealed that Moria is lesbian
-Offred recalls the violent takeover by the sons of jacob which was influenced by technological advancement
-Offred remembers getting fired from her job and left to pursue domestic roles
-Offred felt a power imbalance between her and Luke

51
Q

Chapter 29

A

-The commander and Offred now have a more informal relationship

-After a game of scrabble, Offred wants to talk to the commander instead of receiving a magazine

-The Commander’s response is predominantly vague answers

-Offred asks what Notile des bastardes decroum means (don’t let the bastards grind you down)

-Offred asks what happened to the handmaid before her –> Serena discovered the night time liaisons and the handmaid hanged herself

-Offred realises that the Commander summons her to his office as he feels guilt for her repression. The Commander asks what would make Offred’s life better and she replies with knowledge.

52
Q

Chapter 30

A

-Offred stares out her window and sees Nick and she feels some sexual desire before pulling the curtain closed

-Offred remembers the day she and Luke tried to escape Gilead

-Luke killed their cat so it would not starve and they left some things to not arise suspicion

-The escape failed as someone reported them and Offred questions if this was the fault of disguised eyes

-Offred prays in a confused fashion and ponders on suicide

53
Q

Chapter 31

A

-Summer drags on and Offred finds this passage of time unbearable

-During a shopping trip Ofglen and Offred notice two more people on the wall (one is catholic and the other is marked with a J)

-Offred recalls some people faking being Jewish to escape Gilead

-Jews who did not leave or convert were hung

-Ofglen tells Offred that subversives use Mayday as a password

-Serena calls Offred over and asks her to hold the wool while she knits

-Serena suggests that Offred tries another man since her time is running out (Nick) and states she will show a picture of her daughter if she agrees

-Offred agrees and Serena gives her a cigarette as reward

54
Q

Chapter 32

A

-Offred considers eating the cigarette for the nicotine rush and saving the match to burn the house down

-The commander has taken to drinking at his evenings with Offred

-Ofglen says Offred’s commander is in a high chain of power

-The Commander explains that pre gilead there was nothing for men to do with women – men used to complain they felt nothing

-The commander asks Offred how she feels about Gilead but does not answer so instead he says “you cannot make an omelete without breaking eggs”

55
Q

Chapter 33

A

-Ofglen and Offred attend a Prayvaganza with other women from the district in a formed uni building

-All social classes are seperated

-Janine walks in with a new wife and it is revealed that Janine’s baby had birth defects after all

-Offred remembers at the red centre Janine was speaking to an invisible customer. Moria slapped Janine to bring her back to her senses

56
Q

Chapter 34

A

-Prayvaganza’s are weddings for the wives daughter’s where girls as young as 14 get married

-In a few years future wives will be girls who are unaware of life pre-Gilead

-Offred states that the greatest thing Gilead has taken away is love

-catholic nuns highlight the contrast between the rigidness of theocracy and biblical religion

-Offred remembers that Aunt Lydia said the role of Gilead is to create camaridae between women

-Ofglen urges Offred to find out everything she can

57
Q

Chapter 35

A

-Offred remembers the time she and Luke attempted to escape Gilead

-Luke saw the guard pick up the phone and they sped away

-Offred worries that Luke must be dead and she begins to cry

-Later, Serena Joy shows Offred a picture of her daughter which makes her even more upset then relieved

58
Q

Chapter 36

A

-Offred goes to see the Commander and he is drunk

-The Commander gives Offred an outfit with sequins and feathers and tells her to wear it and put makeup on

-Nick drives them through the checkpoints and Offred is worried about his opinion on her

-Offred imagines Moria calling her an idiot for this recklessness

59
Q

Chapter 37

A

-The Commander takes Offred to an old hotel where the Jezbels now are

-Offred sees many women wearing revealing clothing from the past with cigarettes and alcohol

-The Commander tries to show Offred off

-Offred spots Moria wearing a Playboy bunny costume and Moria signals for her to meet Offred in the bathroom

60
Q

Chapter 38

A

-Offred goes to the bathroom to meet Moria and Offred explains how the Commander smuggled her in

-Moria tells her story about her escape from the red centre and how she survived

-Quakers put Moria on the underground female road

-Moria was unfortunately caught and tortured by the eyes. She was shown clips of the colonies and Moria chose to be a jezbel rather than go there

-Offred is disheartened to hear the fatalism in Moria’s voice

61
Q

Chapter 39

A

-The Commander takes Offred to a hotel room

-Offred excuses herself to go to the bathroom

-Offred remembers Moria saying that she saw her mother in one of the videos at the colonies

-Offred remembers going to her mothers house w Luke and finding it in disarray

-The Commander looks smaller/older w his clothes off

-The commander wants to have sex w Offred which she fakes

62
Q

Chapter 40

A

-Back at the Commander’s house Offred removes her makeup and changes her clothes

-Nick and Offred have sex

-Offred tells two stories of what happened next: one thick with passion and desire while the other is heartless and awkward

-Offred feels guilty

63
Q

Chapter 41

A

-Offred tells the audience that her story is almost too painful to bear but she needs to tell it

-Offred states that she continues to see Nick at night without Serena’s knowledge

-Offred tells Nick her name, about Moria/Ofglen etc

-Offred tells Nick that she thinks she is pregnant

-During the shopping trips Ofglen pressures Offred to break into the Commanders office but Offred is more inclined to be complicit because of Nick

64
Q

Chapter 42

A

-A salvaging is held in Harvard’s yard

-Aunt Lydia supervises this spectacle where she announces that their crimes shall not be revealed to prevent further rebellion

-Two handmaids and one wife is hanged

-The handmaids must place their hands on a rope as the women are hanged

65
Q

Chapter 43

A

-Particulation takes place where the handmaids tear apart a “rapist” where Aunt Lydia adds he killed a baby through this act

-In reality he was a political enemy (part of underground rebellion)

-They see Janine with vacant eyes and crazed emotions

-Offred admits that she feels great hunger

66
Q

Chapter 44

A

-Soon after the salvaging Offred goes shopping and is comforted by this routine

-Ofglen has disappeared and is replaced by a new one

-Offred says Mayday to try see if the women is part of the resistance. She warns Offred that she is aware of the resistance but is not part of it

-the new ofglen reveals that the old Ofglen hanged herself after seeing the black van approaching her

67
Q

Chapter 45

A

-Offred feels relieved that Ofglen committed suicide as now Offred will not be caught

-Offred wills herself to be complicit to survive Gilead

-Serena joy calls Offred and shows her the lingerie the Commander brought her

-Serena asks how Offred could be so vulgar and calls her a slut

-Offred attempts to be calm and composed as she retreats into her room

68
Q

Chapter 46

A

-Offred is in her room and contemplates what she should do; set the house on fire, kill herself etc

-Offred hears a van coming and she regrets not doing something

-Nick opens the door of Offred’s room and says the van is Mayday not the Eyes. Offred struggles to believe this but when Nick uses her real name she believes him; she has no choice

69
Q

Historical notes

A

-Its almost ironic that a man picks apart Offred’s story in Gilead as she created it for the purpose of women identified freedom and hope

-The “Historical Notes” section further undermines the historical authority of Offred’s account by revealing that the text of the novel is not the direct record made by Off­red of her experiences, but is itself a construct, a transcript of tape-recorded commentaries, edited and structured, and interpreted by its twenty-second-century editors, who have, in a way, repeated the very process that Offred herself uses, but with a very different agenda. In effect, our entire experience of Offred’s account has been deceptive, for we have been reading it, but it is not a document at all, but a series of recorded audiotapes

-The method of ordering and communicating historical data in Offred’s day authenticates and legitimizes memoir and diary as indigenous literary outlets of oppressed women.

-Patriarchal hegemony –> Piexeto hesitates to side with Offred

Edexcel English literature (3 decks)

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