Life has never been portrayed bleaker than in the infamous dystopian series The Handmaid’s Tale: a show on Hulu that has accumulated praise not just for its entertainment, but for its presence in the political sphere as a commentary on women’s rights. Winner of multiple Primetime Emmy Awards, the show was adapted from the 1985 novel of the same name, written by distinguished author Margaret Atwood, and has run since 2017. Stratification and suffering marry together in a series that brutally showed a world where women lose autonomy and are orchestrated by men in power.
The Handmaid’s Tale situates around a totalitarian theocracy in which everyone in Gilead has a position with a particular purpose. The women with the most freedom in the patriarchy are the ‘Wives’ of the very men who oppress them. On a different level of power are the ‘Aunts’: women in charge of discipline and enforcing Gileadean rules to achieve subservience amongst the handmaids. Then, those who feed and clean up after them are maids called ‘Marthas’, who are infertile and unable to marry. Finally, the show centers around the concubine experience of ‘Handmaids’ - fertile women who must produce children for the wives and their commanders. Powerless, handmaids must follow certain rules under the theocracy, or face life-threatening consequences.
The Handmaids Are Subservient
As the most important social class ranking in the Gileadean regime, handmaids are considered a national resource, which ultimately forces them to be strictly governed and accounted for. Part of their responsibility as a handmaid is to remain subservient and meek - to be seen and not heard.
Dressed without any skin showing in the color red, the handmaids are identifiable, and therefore harder to miss, with a white cap called ‘wings’ adorned on their head to block their peripheral vision. During the beginning of Gilead, fertile women were captured and taken to the Red Center: a housing that trains the women into becoming handmaids. Run by the Aunts, the handmaids are trained to listen to orders. Stepping out of line or questioning results in cruel punishments, and even death.
Their Real Names Are Erased
Pre-Gilead times, each handmaid lived a life of freedom to do whatever they wanted, and have autonomy over themselves. However, once the women were captured and assigned to a Commander, their identity became erased - amounting to nothing more than viable ovaries with a job to do.
One of the most demeaning aspects of the life of a handmaid is losing their name, and instead becoming owned by their Commander through his name - using the prefix ‘Of’ and taking up his first name. Even more confusingly, a handmaid may not always stay the same name, depending on where she is posted.
They Must Engage In A Monthly Ceremony
Axiomatically, the most gruesome part of being a handmaid comes with its role as a sexual slave, justified under the pretenses of repopulation, and solidified by a warped version of the Old Testament. Monthly, when the handmaid is ovulating and thus in her peak window of fertility, the Commander and Wife are joined by other household members to listen to a scripture of the story of Jacob, Rachel, and their handmaid.
Then, a ritual is initiated with the goal to impregnate the handmaid. During this, the handmaid is positioned at the end of the bed, in between the Wife’s legs as they hold hands - symbolizing being of one flesh with the Commander. If the handmaid conceives, she will stay in the household until she gives birth, and then be moved to her next posting. However, if time passes and the handmaid does not conceive, she will be deemed infertile and sent to the colonies to be worked to death.
Heterosexuality Is Forced
Following the fundamentalist beliefs of an undisclosed religion, Gilead has strict views on marriage and procreation - meaning that heterosexuality is forced upon all women in Gilead. Handmaids, who are already forced into sexual servitude with males, are made to repress their sexuality for reproductive purposes or face life-threatening consequences.
Some queer characters, like Moira (Samira Wiley) had the choice of being sent to the colonies to work to death or perform work in an underground brothel known as Jezebels (only serving men). Others, like Emily (Alexis Bledel), faced brutality after it was found out that she was involved with another woman. Known as ‘gender traitors’ identifying as homosexual is seen as sinful, and against a woman’s purpose to bear children for the dying population in Gilead.
No Reading or Writing is Allowed
The life of a handmaid is bleak and uneventful: their day consists of sitting in their room, going food shopping, or helping the Marthas cook and clean. A fundamental rule in Gilead forbids women from reading and writing. This ban on a basic human right is enacted due to fear of rebellion - in the eyes of Gilead, if the women can communicate in a secretive way, they can challenge authority and cause chaos. To govern this rule, everything in Gilead is represented in symbols instead of words - from products in the supermarket to identifiers of buildings.
Even Wives are not allowed the luxury of reading - not even from the bible - unless they want to be reprimanded for it. When Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) read a passage from the bible in attempt to convince the Commanders that they should be allowed to pass on the word of God, her husband (Joesph Fiennes) and the other Sons of Jacob had her finger removed as punishment. Enforced illiteracy is the eventual goal in Gilead for the girls who have been conceived in the confines of the government, and the women who have been captured have no material to read or write with. The idea that knowledge is power runs deep in Gilead, which is another reason to govern handmaids in its wake.
They Must Walk Accompanied At All Times
Considered a national resource that could potentially be used in global trade, the handmaids are to be protected at all costs. As the bearers of Gilead’s new children, the handmaids must walk accompanied at all times to ensure that they don’t run off, harm themselves, or be harmed.
The handmaids are usually assigned shopping partners, and will also have guardians walking behind them. Once in the shopping grounds, they are also surrounded by the Eyes, armed with weapons to enforce no breach of their safety occurs.