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    Summary and Analysis of The Handmaid's Tale: Based on the Book by Margaret Atwood
    Summary and Analysis of The Handmaid's Tale: Based on the Book by Margaret Atwood
    Summary and Analysis of The Handmaid's Tale: Based on the Book by Margaret Atwood
    Ebook62 pages40 minutes

    Summary and Analysis of The Handmaid's Tale: Based on the Book by Margaret Atwood

    By Worth Books

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    About this ebook

    So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of The Handmaid’s Tale tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Margaret Atwood’s book.

    Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. 
     
    This short summary and analysis of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood includes:
     
    • Historical context
    • Part-by-part summaries
    • Analysis of the main characters
    • Themes and symbols
    • Important quotes
    • Fascinating trivia
    • Glossary of terms
    • Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work
     
    About Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale:
     
    Margaret Atwood’s dystopian literary masterpiece tells the story of Offred, a Handmaid living in the near future in what was once the United States. A new theocratic regime called the Republic of Gilead has come to power and changed life as she knew it.
     
    Once Offred had a her own name and a loving family—a husband and daughter—both of which were taken from her; now she belongs to the Commander and his hostile wife, and her only value lies in her ability to bear a child for them. She used to read books and learn; now such things are forbidden to all women.
     
    Gripping, disturbing, and so relevant today, The Handmaid’s Tale is a brilliant novel and a chilling warning about what can happen when extreme ideas are taken to their logical conclusions.
     
    The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of fiction.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateFeb 7, 2017
    ISBN9781504044165
    Summary and Analysis of The Handmaid's Tale: Based on the Book by Margaret Atwood
    Author

    Worth Books

    Worth Books’ smart summaries get straight to the point and provide essential tools to help you be an informed reader in a busy world, whether you’re browsing for new discoveries, managing your to-read list for work or school, or simply deepening your knowledge. Available for fiction and nonfiction titles, these are the book summaries that are worth your time.  

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      Book preview

      Summary and Analysis of The Handmaid's Tale - Worth Books

      Contents

      Context

      Overview

      Cast of Characters

      Summary

      Character Analysis

      Themes and Symbols

      Direct Quotes and Analysis

      Trivia

      What’s That Word?

      Critical Response

      About Margaret Atwood

      For Your Information

      Bibliography

      Copyright

      Context

      Written in 1985, The Handmaid’s Tale is a response to a number of cultural factors: the feminism of the 1970s, the greed is good zeitgeist of the 1980s, and tensions between individual liberty and exploitation (in the sex industry, for instance). Margaret Atwood says she was also inspired by the rigid religious precepts of her Puritan ancestors. The novel was regarded as a significant contribution to debate at the time and has since become a seminal work—critics and sociologists still make reference to it today. It’s a simple story with a complex setting, but its simplicity packs a considerable cultural punch.

      The Handmaid’s Tale is a canary in the cultural coal mine, setting off warning bells that have reverberated into the early twenty-first century. The story highlights dangers that we still face and shows us what we might yet become. The fascist theocracy that it elegantly outlines remains a threat—and in some countries, such as Afghanistan, a similar government has come to power in the years after the novel was written. Atwood’s book is not the first to depict a dystopian American future, but it is one of the first to illustrate how such a future might specifically impact women. Issues touched upon in the narrative, such as women’s access to abortion and contraception, have continued to be relevant in the United States in the years since the book’s publication.

      There have been many adaptations of The Handmaid’s Tale, including a 1990 film starring Natasha Richardson, a 2000 opera by Danish composer Poul Ruders, a 2013 Canadian ballet choreographed by Lila York, several dramatic adaptations for radio, and a television series starring Elisabeth Moss.

      Overview

      America has changed. War has torn the country, and nuclear power accidents along the San Andreas Fault have devastated the western seaboard. Fertility has been badly affected by pollution and disease. The president and the senate are dead, murdered by a secretive Christian theocracy that, in the ensuing chaos, takes over parts of the fragmenting nation. In what was once New England, but is now the Republic of Gilead, a repressive, shadowy government runs a state based on Biblical principles.

      Offred is a Handmaid: a legalized prostitute/surrogate mother attached to the household of a powerful Commander in the new regime. The Commander’s Wife, Serena Joy, is a former televangelist who cannot have children—so Offred, who is still fertile, must bear them for her. Offred’s children will be considered the children of the Wife due to a ritualized impregnation ceremony that has nothing to do with sexual pleasure. The other women in the household, who are servants, look down on Offred while simultaneously hoping for her success in breeding. Meanwhile, Offred tries to block out thoughts of her husband and little daughter, lost in this brutal new nation.

      Over the course of the novel we are introduced to many features of

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