Is Atwood’s novel ultimately a feminist work of literature, or does it offer a critique of feminism? (400-500 words)
The second wave of feminism “existed from the 1960s to 1980s, and sought to gain equality for women within the household, working environments, and education.” The Handmaid’s tale was published by Atwood in 1985, shortly after this second wave of feminism had occurred, creating a link between what this second wave meant for humanity and the ironic contrast that was created by Atwood in this novel. She is known to always incorporate a feminist perspective and theme in her books, but The Handmaid’s tale is unique because there is this complex blurred line between it being a feminist novel and it being a critique of feminism.
In the novel there is a prominent conflict between different types and views of feminism in the midst of a highly conservative and misogynistic community, which provokes deeper thought in readers to understand why Atwood has made these deliberate choices. Firstly, there is the extreme discrimination of women by the commanders where the handmaids are only worth the sexual value which they add by being ‘birthgivers’. However, as opposed to real life, there is also extreme discrimination amongst women based on the role they play in Gilead. Women are given a different social ranking which encompasses a certain part of the role that women are expected to play in the real world. The main ones being – commander wives are infertile women who are right behind the commanders and are transferred to Gilead based on their financial status in the pre-Gilead community. The marthas are servants of the households and they are expected to cook, whilst handmaids are solely sex slaves who are put through the torturous ceremony to get pregnant. With these different rankings of women in the book, we see a divide created between them where each one can discriminate against the other, enhancing its critique of feminism because it reflects what occurs in our world where women also discriminate based on their social status, but in the handmaid’s tale, their function of the regime.
The quote “We lived in the gaps between the stories” on page 67 of the book encapsulates this conflict between the feminism and critique of feminism because Offred comes to the realisation of her pre- Gilead life and life as a handmaid. This quote refers the state of indifference that exists in the real world where we see the magnanimity of issues faced by people but are indifferent in the sense that we don’t act on it until it impacts us. Similarly with Offred, before her time as a handmaid she was not a feminist. However, as she came to Gilead being a feminist consumed her because she was placed in a society that was so deeply misogynistic. I think Atwood is a real master with her words in which she is able to draw so many parallels between the world in which we live in and Gilead, which seems like a place that with disciplines and values so far from our world, but are actually very similar.
Ultimately, the handmaid’s tale comments on the performative nature of the second wave of feminism because it was simply not sufficient in changing the world. It was simply an act but there was not much real change, mirrored in The Handmaid’s Tale. In conclusion, Offred’s mother is the most significant character in the novel who encompasses all the types of feminism as she stood for so many forms of women’s rights even before Gilead. Offred used to be embarrassed of this when she was younger, but suddenly she found herself with the same ideologies, thus the mother foreshadows this change in her thinking.
Finally, The Handmaid’s Tale is a feminist novel because it creates a dystopian vision of a patriarchal caste system. It also highlights the schisms within feminism where there are several feminist positions at odds with each other. Atwood critiques this by creating a dystopia where women are a key part of their sisters’ subjugation.
