Handmaid's Tale Background Information
Margaret Atwood, born in 1939, is a renowned author known for her humanist views and critical thinking. "The Handmaid's Tale" explores themes of fundamentalist totalitarian regimes, patriarchy, and societal trends. Set in the 1980s, the novel reflects fears of sacrificing liberties for security and critiques conservative revivals. Against a backdrop of rising terrorism and religious extremism, Atwood's work draws parallels to historical events like the Holocaust and contemporary issues like reproductive rights.
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HANDMAIDS TALE Background Information
MARGARET ATWOOD MARGARET ATWOOD Born in 1939, grew up in northern Quebec and did not attend school until 8thgrade Her father was an etymologist and she spent much of her childhood in the woods of Quebec. When her mother bought her a book of fairy tales, she bought Grimm s Fairy Tales Read, wrote and used imagination voraciously Attended the University of Toronto and Harvard and taught at various universities including New York University
MARGARET ATWOOD MARGARET ATWOOD Considers herself a humanist someone who places critical thinking and empiricism over doctrine and faith. 1987 Humanist of the Year People s true religion is what they worship, whether it s called a church or not. If you re dedicated, for instance, to the stock market to the exclusion of all else, you have a religion of the stock market [ . . . ] whether you recognize that s what you re doing or not. Dislikes terms like feminism even though her novels often warn of the dangers of patriarchy
HISTORICAL AND HISTORICAL AND LITERARY CONTEXT LITERARY CONTEXT Penned in West Berlin and Alabama Displays her (and others ) fears of fundamentalist totalitarian regimes and the potential effects of giving up liberties for security worldwide and offers a satire of social, religious and political trends in the U.S. in the 1980 s conservative revival, militant nationalism, etc. Election of Raegan and Thatcher conservative revival Social services for women disproportionately cut Women in power disproportionately decreasing, etc. See Neuman, Shirley. Just a Backlash : Margaret Atwood, Feminism, and The Handmaid s Tale. University of Toronto Quarterly Summer 2006. 857-868.
HISTORICAL AND HISTORICAL AND LITERARY CONTEXT LITERARY CONTEXT 70 s and 80 s saw rise of terrorism, terrorist groups plane hijacking, kidnapping . . . Rise of religious extremism stateside and abroad Falwell, Robertson, etc. Ebb in progress towards women s rights Cold War & culture of fear
HISTORICAL AND HISTORICAL AND LITERARY CONTEXT LITERARY CONTEXT There's nothing in the book that hasn't already happened. AIDS Nuclear plant accidents Banning of abortion and birth control in parts of the world (Romania) state limitation of birth in others (China) Pharmaceutical mishaps/side-effects (Thalidomide) Holocaust, Trail of Tears, Slavery, etc.
THEMES AND MOTIFS THEMES AND MOTIFS Consequences of reversing woman s rights Objectification of woman s bodies Individual vs. State Dangers of totalitarianism, fundamentalism, and religious intolerance false use of religion in politics Machiavellian power for power s sake Mind Control: psychological manipulation and the power of language (and the role of technology in all of the above)
SETTING SETTING 1980 s Cambridge, Massachusetts -- Harvard Atwood said she chose the most unlikely place because these things tend to occur where we least expect them 1stperson POV in the form of a journal or memoir Handmaid s Tale has been made into a movie, opera, ballet, and now a Hulu miniseries
