The Handmaid's Tale Context
- Created by: Dene3
- Created on: 28-05-19 08:33
View mindmap
- 'THE HANDMAID'S TALE': CONTEXT
- Waves of feminism
- Betty Friedan (1963) said that the housewife constant felt boredom and a lack of fulfilment. Women who 'had it all' were deadened by domesticity.
- SERENA JOY?
- The National Organisation for Women (NOW) was formed in 1966 and gained a lot of support in the 2nd year.
- The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) that ensured the equality of rights regardless of sex caused support to evaporate.
- GILEAD? Atwood warns of the effects of not having the ERA.
- The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) that ensured the equality of rights regardless of sex caused support to evaporate.
- The Redstockings in 1969 published 'The ***** Manifesto' that addressed issues such as sexism, the politics of housework, abortion and ****. Domestic violence was also discussed
- AUNT LYDIA IS A SUBVERSION OF THIS?
- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (1965) was backed and women gained access to jobs everywhere
- OFFRED'S PREVIOUS LIFE vs GILEADEAN LIFE
- Betty Friedan (1963) said that the housewife constant felt boredom and a lack of fulfilment. Women who 'had it all' were deadened by domesticity.
- 1980s political movements
- The Reagan Era
- "Government is the problem"
- REBELLION AGAINST GILEAD?
- "Peace is only attainable through military strength"
- REFLECTED THROUGH THE USE OF GUARDS AND VIOLENCE
- "Government is the problem"
- Thatcherism
- Monetarism- controlling money with high interest rates
- Privatisation of state-owned industries
- CALLS FOR INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM WHICH IS NOT IN GILEAD
- Privatisation of state-owned industries
- Victorian values where conventional marriage and nuclear families were important
- SOME GILEADEAN IDEAS
- Monetarism- controlling money with high interest rates
- The Reagan Era
- Religious fundamentalism/ conservative religious values
- American New Right
- A return to 'traditional values'- 'submission is God's design for women'
- SERENA JOY'S IDEAS IN THE PAST/ GILEAD AS A THEOCRACY
- A return to 'traditional values'- 'submission is God's design for women'
- Morin Ollier
- "the greatest lie of the century is the claim that women are unfairly treated in a position of inferiority in the United States"
- WOMEN OPPRE**ING WOMEN/ AUNT LYDIA
- "the greatest lie of the century is the claim that women are unfairly treated in a position of inferiority in the United States"
- "Like many theocratic societies, Gilead's scriptural emphasis is more about control than faith"
- THE RED CENTRE/ INDOCTRINATION
- American New Right
- Attitudes to sexuality
- The core 'radical' idea was that just like men, women enjoyed sex and had sexual needs
- GILEAD COMPLETELY DISREGARDS THIS?
- Hugh Hefner's creation of '*******' and Helen Gurley's 'Sex and the SIngle GIrl' empowered being single, women's open sexualitya dn destroyed the 'old maid' concept
- GILEAD DISCARDED OF ALL *********** AND DOES NOT SEE SEX AS A MEANS OF PLEASURE
- OFFRED CONTRADICTS THIS AS SHE ALWAYS NEEDS A MAN
- Madonna-Whore complex
- Developed by SIgmund Freud, it is the misogynistic view that "where such men love they have no desire (Madonna) and where they desire they cannot love (whore)"
- SERENA JOY AS MADONNA AND OFFRED AS WHORE
- Developed by SIgmund Freud, it is the misogynistic view that "where such men love they have no desire (Madonna) and where they desire they cannot love (whore)"
- The core 'radical' idea was that just like men, women enjoyed sex and had sexual needs
- Totalitarian regimes
- Nazi Germany
- The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany- people were sent to concentration camps when they spread Anti-Nazi ideas/ were Jewish or gay
- EYES IN GILEAD
- Lebensborn were effectively brothels where women were paired with suitable ** soldiers/Aryan men for a quick pregnancy
- THE ROLE OF THE HANDMAIDS, HIERARCHY IN GILEAD AND WOMEN'S ROLES
- The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany- people were sent to concentration camps when they spread Anti-Nazi ideas/ were Jewish or gay
- Cold War
- The idea of developed technology and the use of biological and chemical warfare
- THE COLONIES AND A FEAR OF GOING THERE
- The idea of developed technology and the use of biological and chemical warfare
- Russia
- Individual talents were none but frowned upon unless it had a benefit for the state
- GILEAD RECONSTRUCTS IDENTITY
- Often a charismatic dictator provides a sense of security and guidance and justifies their actions no matter how twisted they may be
- AUNT LYDIA QUOTING THE BIBLE
- Individual talents were none but frowned upon unless it had a benefit for the state
- Nazi Germany
- Puritanism
- Encouraged a personal rship with God and salvation was entirely up to him where he chose to 'save' a few
- GILEAD AS A THEOCRACY
- Censorious beliefs about self-indulgence and sex
- BANNING OF CIGARETTES FOR HANDMAIDS
- Encouraged a personal rship with God and salvation was entirely up to him where he chose to 'save' a few
- Marx
- 'From each according to his ability; to each according to his needs'
- Refers to the distribution of goods and free access
- HANDMAIDS ARE GIVEN THE BEST FOOD AS THEY 'NEED' IT
- Refers to the distribution of goods and free access
- 'Religion is the opiate of the masses'
- Paraphrased and has many interpretations: religion does not remove suffering but numbs the pain
- "BLE**ED BE THE MEEK" IS OMITTED TO SUIT THE HANDMAIDS AND THEIR COMPLIANCE
- Paraphrased and has many interpretations: religion does not remove suffering but numbs the pain
- 'From each according to his ability; to each according to his needs'
- Language and Gender
- The Laugh Of Medusa (1976), Helene Cixous
- Encourages women to reclaim their own bodies and suggests that male writing presents a possession of women and so they are 'nobody'
- "ONLY I KNOW THE FOOTING" OFFRED CLAIMS HER BODY AND THE PREVIOUS OFFRED LEFT HER MARK THROUGH THE ENGRAVING
- Encourages women to reclaim their own bodies and suggests that male writing presents a possession of women and so they are 'nobody'
- Foucault
- Political belief systems are embedded in language and can either allow for self-expression or repress it
- MANIPULATION OF LANGUAGE AND SCRABBLE
- Political belief systems are embedded in language and can either allow for self-expression or repress it
- The Laugh Of Medusa (1976), Helene Cixous
- Dystopia
- 'Reductio ad absurdum'
- Means 'reduction to the absurd'
- COULD REFER TO THE HANDMAIDS AS **** IS LEGALISED
- Means 'reduction to the absurd'
- 'A Modest Proposal'
- suggest letting the Irish eat children
- EXTREME CRUELTY AS FACED BY PUNISHMENT IN GILEAD
- suggest letting the Irish eat children
- 'Reductio ad absurdum'
- Waves of feminism
Comments
No comments have yet been made