2.2.2
Chapter 3
Chapter 3 - Summary
Chapter 3 - Summary
The setting changes to the garden. We find out this is the Commander's Wife, Serena Joy's favourite place.
Flashback - meeting Serena Joy
Flashback - meeting Serena Joy
- Offred remembers her own garden and says that she does not like to be around the Commander's wife.
- The reader experiences a flashback to the first time Offred met the Commander's Wife. This is a tense conversation where she is told to not be seen unless called for.
- We find out that Offred has been a Handmaid for a Commander before Serena Joy's husband and that it didn't result in a pregnancy.
Offred recognises Serena Joy
Offred recognises Serena Joy
- It is implied that a Handmaid is only given a limited amount of times to get pregnant before she is no longer needed. This makes Offred's position in the family even tenser.
- At the end of the chapter, Offred remembers that she has seen Serena Joy before, in the past, on TV, as a singer on the "Growing Souls Gospel Hour".
- Offred realises that the once-famous gospel singer is now is this terrible circumstance and says: "So it was worse than I thought".
Chapter 3 - Key Quotations
Chapter 3 - Key Quotations
Here are four key quotations from Chapter 3:
"Looks like peace"
"Looks like peace"
- "From a distance, it looks like peace"
__"...a reproach to her..."
__"...a reproach to her..."
- "I'm a reproach to her; and a necessity"
...Scriptual precedent"
...Scriptual precedent"
- "They can hit us, there's Scriptural precedent"
1Author Background
1.1Margaret Atwood
2Chapter Summaries
2.1Chapter 1: Night I
2.2Chapters 2-6: Shopping II
2.3Chapter 7: Night II
2.4Chapters 8-12: Waiting Room IV
2.5Chapter 13: Nap V
2.6Chapters 14-17: Household VI
2.7Chapter 18: Night VII
2.8Chapters 19-23: Birth Day VIII
2.9Chapter 24: Night IX
2.10Chapters 25-29: Soul Scrolls X
2.11Chapter 30: Night XI
2.12Chapters 31-39: Jezebel's XII
2.13Chapter 40: Night XIII
2.14Chapters 41-45: Salvaging XIV
2.15Chapter 46: Night XV
2.16Historical Notes
3Dedications & Epigraph
3.1Dedications & Epigraph
4Context
4.1Setting
4.2Literary Context & Genre
4.3Political Context
4.4Historical Context
4.5Parallels: Read World & Gilead
4.6Religious Context
5Narrative Structure & Literary Techniques
5.1Narrative Structure
5.2Literary Techniques
6Themes & Imagery
6.2Imagery
7Characters
7.1Female Characters
7.2Male Characters
8Readings
8.1Readings of The Handmaid's Tale
Jump to other topics
1Author Background
1.1Margaret Atwood
2Chapter Summaries
2.1Chapter 1: Night I
2.2Chapters 2-6: Shopping II
2.3Chapter 7: Night II
2.4Chapters 8-12: Waiting Room IV
2.5Chapter 13: Nap V
2.6Chapters 14-17: Household VI
2.7Chapter 18: Night VII
2.8Chapters 19-23: Birth Day VIII
2.9Chapter 24: Night IX
2.10Chapters 25-29: Soul Scrolls X
2.11Chapter 30: Night XI
2.12Chapters 31-39: Jezebel's XII
2.13Chapter 40: Night XIII
2.14Chapters 41-45: Salvaging XIV
2.15Chapter 46: Night XV
2.16Historical Notes
3Dedications & Epigraph
3.1Dedications & Epigraph
4Context
4.1Setting
4.2Literary Context & Genre
4.3Political Context
4.4Historical Context
4.5Parallels: Read World & Gilead
4.6Religious Context
5Narrative Structure & Literary Techniques
5.1Narrative Structure
5.2Literary Techniques
6Themes & Imagery
6.2Imagery
7Characters
7.1Female Characters
7.2Male Characters
8Readings
8.1Readings of The Handmaid's Tale
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