THE HANDMAID’S TALEBY MARGARET ATWOOD
“…I like the dreams of the future better than the his-tory of the past.”
-Thomas Jefferson
Chauvinism (-st)
Theocracy
TERMINOLOGY
Time: Futuristic society
Place: the Republic of Gilead
Theocracy, Stratified society
Subjugated
women
Man vs. ManMan vs. Society
Man vs. Fate
ABOUT THE BOOK
Dystopian future society
Totalitarian government
Language as a tool to control the public
Sexual intercourse only for reproduction
“…I do not say making love, because this is not what he's doing. Copulating too would be inaccurate, because it would imply two peo-ple and only one is involved. Nor does rape cover it: nothing is going
on here that I haven't signed up for." (page 94)
CONNECTION TO 1984
Unconditional submission to the male membercould own no business without special permission could not own property of any kindDuty to producing a male heir
MIDDLE AGES
To focus on the gender role
Oppressed women VS. Omnipotent men
Power of language
Dystopian future society
To continue on the motif of red color
OBJECTIVE
MY WORK
No artistic creation allowed in the futuristic society
Clear portrayal of the reality
permanence
WHY PHOTOGRAPHY?
Body
Tool
Hand
Women
Bounded
Household
Eye
Men
Clairvoyance
Penetration
Control
WHY BODY, HAND, AND EYE?
Represents male power
Eye: omniscient
Light: enlightenment
Size: domineering power
Position: center of the
world
THE EYE
Represents female
Hand: household work
Window: oppressed
Black: fear, unknown
Key phrases from the
book: motif
THE HAND…
Black: doomed-fate White: innocent Red: handmaid’s color
Wine: religious allusion
Position of the glass
ENIGMA
Enjoyed reading 1984 or Brave New World
Likes to read scientific fiction
About dystopian future
RECOMMENDED TO THOSE…