Aunt Lydia: Character Profile


	Personality	Role
	Pious Hypocritical Manipulative	Aunt Lydia is supposed to teach new Handmaids about how to fuflill their duties. She talks often about how precious the Handmaids are — method of indoctrination
	Key Quotes	Key Ideas
	'Think of yourselves as pearls' [page 120] Mora says 'She pretended to do all that love-the-sinner, hate-the-sin stuff, but she enjoyed it.' [page 256] 'There is more than one kind of freedom,” said Aunt Lydia. “Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to.' “Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. 'Try to think of it from their point of view, she said, her hands clasped and wrung together, her nervous pleading smile. It isn’t easy for them.' 'It’s a risk you’re taking, said Aunt Lydia, but you are the shock troops, you will march out in advance, into the dangerous territory. The greater the risk the greater the glory. She clasped her hands, radiant with our phony courage.'	Uses the small amount of power she has over the Handmaids Gilead uses women to suppress women

Aunt Lydia is supposed to teach new Handmaids about how to fuflill their duties.
She talks often about how precious the Handmaids are — method of indoctrination

'Think of yourselves as pearls' [page 120]
Mora says 'She pretended to do all that love-the-sinner, hate-the-sin stuff, but she enjoyed it.' [page 256]
'There is more than one kind of freedom,” said Aunt Lydia. “Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to.'
“Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will.
'Try to think of it from their point of view, she said, her hands clasped and wrung together, her nervous pleading smile. It isn’t easy for them.'
'It’s a risk you’re taking, said Aunt Lydia, but you are the shock troops, you will march out in advance, into the dangerous territory. The greater the risk the greater the glory. She clasped her hands, radiant with our phony courage.'

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