Serena Joy

What role has she played in establishing Gilead as a republic? What is the significance of her character in the novel?

Serena Joy is the wife of Commander Waterford, the individual that uses Offred to produce children. She used to be somewhat of a celebrity before the sons of Jacob took over the regime, advocating for the extreme conservative ideologies that women should stay at home and serve their husbands, helping establish Gilead as a republic. She is representative of the ‘Virtuous Woman’ from the Old Testament, which can be described as the females who were content with being subjugated to marginalization, fulfilling their only purpose that is to follow their husband’s orders. Atwood creates her character to satirize the ‘Christian Right Wives’ from the 1980s that competed against the fight for gender equality, defending anti-abortion.

  • Even though she is very powerful, she still feels quite trapped and betrayed as she one of the key architects of Gilead
  • She is bitter and frustrated, and she takes that out on those around her
  • She feels the need to put herself above Offred to compensate for her distress
  • Shows that its not just men oppressing women as women also hold these values

She is quite a prominent figure in the Handmaid’s tale given Offred’s many frequent visits to her Commander, seeing her up close. She discusses her name, how it sounds the company title of a luxurious shampoo product: “with a woman’s head in cut-paper silhouette on a pink oval background with scalloped gold edges”. 

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