6.1.2
The Female Body
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Themes - The Female Body
"I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement for the accomplishment of my will."
Erosion of women's rights
- Atwood uses The Handmaid's Tale to show what might happen if the erosion of women's rights - which accelerated in the 1980s because of the New Right - was taken to the extreme in the Western World, just like it had already been in places like Iran or Romania.
- Because the female body can create life, it becomes like a battleground for ideology, violence and control in the novel.
"Prize pig" and Ceremony
- Offred says she feels like a "prize pig" after being prepared for the Ceremony.
- During the Ceremony, Offred disassociates herself with the rest of her body for survival.
- She says: "What he is fucking is the lower part of my body".
Offred's abjection to her body
- Women are made to feel shame for their bodies. But their bodies are also considered precious because of what they can do for the hierarchy of Gilead.
- Offred avoids looking at her body when bathing. This implies she cannot face the fact that her whole identity is defined by her fertility:
- "I avoid looking down at my body, not so much because it's shameful or immodest but because I don't want to see it. I don't want to look at something that determines me so completely."
Themes - Objectification of Women
The Handmaids are totally objectified. This reinforced by the false sisterhood of the Aunts. Their survival relies upon the successful pregnancies of the Handmaids.
Chremamorphism
- Atwood uses chremamorphism (giving humans the characteristics of objects) to symbolise the total eradication of the Handmaids' identities as they are only required for their wombs:
- "She said, think of yourselves as seeds…let's pretend we're trees”.
Treatment of Moira
- After Moira first escapes and is captured, she is tortured by having her feet beaten with metal cables by the Aunts.
- The reader is told that the punishment for a repeat offence is the hands being beaten. Aunt Lydia sadistically reminds the Handmaids that "For our purposes, your feet and your hands are not essential".
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
9Recap: Main Quotes
9.1Quotes by Chapter
9.1.1Chapters 1 & 29.1.2Chapters 3 & 49.1.3Chapters 5 & 69.1.4Chapters 7 & 89.1.5Chapters 9 & 109.1.6Chapters 11 & 129.1.7Chapters 13 & 149.1.8Chapter 15 & 169.1.9Chapters 17 & 189.1.10Chapters 19 & 209.1.11Chapters 21 & 229.1.12Chapters 23 & 249.1.13Chapters 25 & 269.1.14Chapters 27 & 289.1.15Chapters 29 & 309.1.16Chapters 31 & 329.1.17Chapters 33 & 349.1.18Chapters 35 & 369.1.19Chapters 37 & 389.1.20Chapters 39 & 409.1.21Chapters 41 & 429.1.22Chapters 43 & 449.1.23Chapters 45 & 469.1.24Historical Notes & Epigraphs
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
9Recap: Main Quotes
9.1Quotes by Chapter
9.1.1Chapters 1 & 29.1.2Chapters 3 & 49.1.3Chapters 5 & 69.1.4Chapters 7 & 89.1.5Chapters 9 & 109.1.6Chapters 11 & 129.1.7Chapters 13 & 149.1.8Chapter 15 & 169.1.9Chapters 17 & 189.1.10Chapters 19 & 209.1.11Chapters 21 & 229.1.12Chapters 23 & 249.1.13Chapters 25 & 269.1.14Chapters 27 & 289.1.15Chapters 29 & 309.1.16Chapters 31 & 329.1.17Chapters 33 & 349.1.18Chapters 35 & 369.1.19Chapters 37 & 389.1.20Chapters 39 & 409.1.21Chapters 41 & 429.1.22Chapters 43 & 449.1.23Chapters 45 & 469.1.24Historical Notes & Epigraphs
Practice questions on The Female Body
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- 1How do the Aunts torture Moira?Multiple choice
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