Berlin & Iran

English Lit: Edexcel A Level The Handmaid's Tale, topic 4.3.1

Political Context - Berlin and Iran

The Handmaid's Tale seems to draw on ideas of segregation and the oppression of women from Berlin and Iran respectively.

Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale partially in West Berlin during the 1980s.
The novel was published in 1986, three years before the Berlin Wall fell.
It's clear that the Berlin Wall - a symbol of segregation and isolation - hugely inspired Atwood, especially as the Wall in The Handmaid's Tale is a symbol of fear, punishment and ideological control.

In the Historical Notes, Professor Crescent Moon subtly makes reference to the Iranian Revolution as she introduces Professor Pieixoto’s publications, including “Iran and Gilead: two late-20th-century monotheocracies”.
In 1978-79, the Iranian Revolution saw the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a new Islamic republic.

This revolution led to women's rights being diminished, including the adoption of mandatory veiling of women, the forced wearing of the hijab, along with public stoning for people believed to be dissenters, the law that women are not allowed to travel without their husband’s permission along with many other conditions that women have to live under.
There are parallels between the Handmaids’ habits and hooded hats and the forced wearing of the Hijab in Iran.

Where did Atwood write part of The Handmaid's Tale?
Who wrote Professor “Iran and Gilead: two late-20th-century monotheocracies”?
When did the Iranian Revolution take place?