Bodies of Silence and Space: Victimhood, Complicity, and Resistance in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale
Abstract
This thesis examines the complexity of resistance and the conditions of power for women in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Using feminist theory, theories of neoliberalism, and Dominionism, this thesis works to understand the ways in which victimhood and complicity influence resistance in totalitarian regimes. I argue that neoliberal ideologies skew understandings of freedom, agency, and power in a way that ensures individuals, specifically women, remain trapped in the system. Focusing on reproduction, I examine how Gilead controls women’s bodies and reproductive abilities to ensure a future for itself. The Eve-Complex is one way that the state integrates itself into the identity of motherhood; by making reproduction a state-controlled affair, Gilead effectively separates women from the identity of motherhood and uses this identity to ensure the production of a future generation of Gileadeans. Analyzing Offred, Serena Joy, and Moira, I determine the value of their respective attempts at resistance, and the implications of their role in propagating the system. Ultimately, I connect my analysis to the current events in the United States, such as the overturning of Roe v. Wade to demonstrate the importance of reading the novel in a modern context.