Margaret Atwood
English Lit: Edexcel A Level The Handmaid's Tale, topic 1.1.1
About the Author: Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood is one of the most acclaimed and honoured authors of modern times. She has won numerous awards for her range of novels, poems, non-fiction and children’s literature.
Educational background
- Atwood was born in Ottawa, Canada, in 1939.
- Atwood was a graduate student at Harvard University, where she became interested in American literature.
- She was especially interested in the history of 17th century Puritanism, which features heavily in The Handmaid’s Tale.
Writing background
- Atwood's novels range in genre and writing style.
- The Edible Woman was her first published novel in 1969.
- Modern classics include Surfacing (1972), Cat’s Eye (1988) and The Blind Assassin (2000).
Political interests in 1985
- The Handmaid’s Tale was published in 1985.
- At that time, Atwood was very inspired by American politics, especially the growth of the New Right.
- The growth of the New Right culminated in the Presidency of Ronald Reagan, who endorsed conservative ‘family values’ and teachings inspired by the Bible.
Awards
- Atwood has been awarded the Man Booker Prize, the Governor General’s Award for Literature and the National Book Critics Lifetime Achievement Award among other awards.
Interpretations of The Handmaid's Tale
Atwood’s writing, especially The Handmaid’s Tale, centres around the key themes of gender, politics, language, climate change and environmental issues, religion, myth and identity.
Canadian identity - key theme?
- Atwood has always been interested in Canadian identity. Many critics have argued that The Handmaid’s Tale could be viewed as the relationship between Canada (the Handmaid) and America (Gilead).
- Atwood may resist this interpretation. She is well known for avoiding labels or the restrictive limitations of genre.
Social realism
- When asked whether she classed The Handmaid’s Tale as a feminist text, Atwood stated: "I don’t consider it Feminism; I just consider it social realism".
Speculative fiction
- Similarly, when Atwood was asked if she classed The Handmaid's Tale as a part of the Science Fiction genre, she claimed that The Handmaid’s Tale was a work of "speculative fiction".
- She was quoted as saying that Science Fiction was all "monsters and spaceships" whereas speculative fiction, like The Handmaid’s Tale, "could really happen".
The Testaments
- In 2019, the much-awaited sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale was published: The Testaments.
- The novel takes place 15 years after Offred's story in Gilead.
- The novel won Atwood the 2019 Man Booker Prize.
Test yourself on Margaret Atwood
Where was Atwood a graduate student?
What does Atwood claim The Handmaid's Tale is?