Summary and Analysis of The Handmaid's Tale: Based on the Book by Margaret Atwood
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This short summary and analysis of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood includes:
- Historical context
- Part-by-part summaries
- Analysis of the main characters
- Themes and symbols
- Important quotes
- Fascinating trivia
- Glossary of terms
- Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work
About Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale:
Margaret Atwood’s dystopian literary masterpiece tells the story of Offred, a Handmaid living in the near future in what was once the United States. A new theocratic regime called the Republic of Gilead has come to power and changed life as she knew it.
Once Offred had a her own name and a loving family—a husband and daughter—both of which were taken from her; now she belongs to the Commander and his hostile wife, and her only value lies in her ability to bear a child for them. She used to read books and learn; now such things are forbidden to all women.
Gripping, disturbing, and so relevant today, The Handmaid’s Tale is a brilliant novel and a chilling warning about what can happen when extreme ideas are taken to their logical conclusions.
The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of fiction.
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Summary and Analysis of The Handmaid's Tale - Worth Books
Contents
Context
Overview
Cast of Characters
Summary
Character Analysis
Themes and Symbols
Direct Quotes and Analysis
Trivia
What’s That Word?
Critical Response
About Margaret Atwood
For Your Information
Bibliography
Copyright
Context
Written in 1985, The Handmaid’s Tale is a response to a number of cultural factors: the feminism of the 1970s, the greed is good
zeitgeist of the 1980s, and tensions between individual liberty and exploitation (in the sex industry, for instance). Margaret Atwood says she was also inspired by the rigid religious precepts of her Puritan ancestors. The novel was regarded as a significant contribution to debate at the time and has since become a seminal work—critics and sociologists still make reference to it today. It’s a simple story with a complex setting, but its simplicity packs a considerable cultural punch.
The Handmaid’s Tale is a canary in the cultural coal mine, setting off warning bells that have reverberated into the early twenty-first century. The story highlights dangers that we still face and shows us what we might yet become. The fascist theocracy that it elegantly outlines remains a threat—and in some countries, such as Afghanistan, a similar government has come to power in the years after the novel was written. Atwood’s book is not the first to depict a dystopian American future, but it is one of the first to illustrate how such a future might specifically impact women. Issues touched upon in the narrative, such as women’s access to abortion and contraception, have continued to be relevant in the United States in the years since the book’s publication.
There have been many adaptations of The Handmaid’s Tale, including a 1990 film starring Natasha Richardson, a 2000 opera by Danish composer Poul Ruders, a 2013 Canadian ballet choreographed by Lila York, several dramatic adaptations for radio, and a television series starring Elisabeth Moss.
Overview
America has changed. War has torn the country, and nuclear power accidents along the San Andreas Fault have devastated the western seaboard. Fertility has been badly affected by pollution and disease. The president and the senate are dead, murdered by a secretive Christian theocracy that, in the ensuing chaos, takes over parts of the fragmenting nation. In what was once New England, but is now the Republic of Gilead, a repressive, shadowy government runs a state based on Biblical principles.
Offred is a Handmaid: a legalized prostitute/surrogate mother attached to the household of a powerful Commander in the new regime. The Commander’s Wife, Serena Joy, is a former televangelist who cannot have children—so Offred, who is still fertile, must bear them for her. Offred’s children will be considered the children of the Wife due to a ritualized impregnation ceremony that has nothing to do with sexual pleasure. The other women in the household, who are servants, look down on Offred while simultaneously hoping for her success in breeding. Meanwhile, Offred tries to block out thoughts of her husband and little daughter, lost in this brutal new nation.
Over the course of the novel we are introduced to many features of