📄• Handmaids & Feminine Gospels: Comparisons

Question 1

Isolation

Answer 1

ISOLATION AS RESULT OF GREIF/ LOSS
Death & The Moon [1]
* ‘The moon is nearer than where death took you’
* ‘I break the ice over the fish in my frozen pond’

THMT [1]
* ‘It’s lack of love we die from. There’s nobody here I could love, all the people I could are dead or elsewhere’
* ‘We learned to whisper almost without sound. In the semi-darkness we could stretch out our arms, when the Aunts weren’t looking, and touch eachothers hands across space’

ISOLATION DUE TO OBJECTIFICATION AND REMOVAL OF AUTONOMY
Beautiful [2]
* The waxy pouting of her mouth’
* Her hair was platinum, her teeth gems, her eyes sapphires’

THMT [2]
* ‘Can I be blamed for wanting a real body, to put my arms around? Without it I too am disembodied’
* Everything except the wings around my face is red: the colour of blood which defines us’

Question 2

Barriers

Answer 2

BARRIERS BETWEEN ANY FORM OF CONDEMNED RELATIONSHIPS
White Writing [1]
* No laws written to gaurd you’
* ‘No poems written to praise you’

THMT [1]
* ‘We arent allowed in there except in twos […] The truth is that she is my spy and I am hers’
* ‘There are three new bodies on the wall […] The two others have purple placcards around their necks: Gender Treachery’

BARRIERS CAUSED BY FUNCTION OF FEMALE BODY, FEMALE BODY AS A BARRIER FOR WOMEN, FERTILITY = CURSE
Work [2]
* ‘To feed one, she worked from home,/ took in washing, ironing, sewing’
* ‘Twins were born.’

THMT [2]
* ‘We are containers, its only the insides of our bodies that are important’
* Books and books and books, right out in plain view, no locks, no boxes. No wonder we can’t come in here. Its an oasis of the forbidden’
* ‘We are two-legged wombs, thats all’

Question 3

Male Gender

Answer 3

**MALE GENDER AS MISOGYNISTIC AND ADVOCATES FOR MALE SUPERIORITY **
Beautiful [1]
* ‘Be mine’
* ‘Give us a smile, cunt’

THMT [1]
* ‘There’s no doubt about who holds the real power’
* ‘Women can’t add’ + ‘For them, one add one add one add one doesn’t make four’

EVEN ‘NORMAL/ MODERN’ MEN CAN STILL HOLD AND PERPETUATE PATRIARCHAL IDEAS WHEN IT BENEFITS THEM
Tall [2]
* ‘He turned and fled like a boy’
* ‘Men on stilts’

THMT [2]
* ‘He doesnt mind it at all. Maybe he event likes it. We are not eachothers anymore. Instead I am his’
* ‘I didnt go to any of the marches. Luke said it would be futile’
* ‘I started doing more housework, more baking’

Question 4

The Past

Answer 4

FEMALE CONTRIBUTION IGNORED/ PAST WHOLLY IGNORED
History [1]
* ‘been there/ when the fishermen swore he was back/ from the dead’
* ‘when they rang on her bell/ there was nobody there; […] shit wrapped in newspaper posted/ onto the floor’

THMT [1]
* ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve seen skirts that short on women. […] Their heads are uncovered and their hair too is exposed in all its darkness and sexuality. They wear lipstick, red, outlining the damp cavaties of their mouths’
* ‘There are three new bodies on the wall […] The two others have purple placcards around their necks: Gender Treachery’

PAST FORMING A BARRIER AGAINST PROGRESSION
Death & The Moon [2]
* ‘I break the ice over the fish in my frozen pond’
* ‘The moon is nearer than where death took you’

THMT [2]
* ‘Time has not stood still. It has washed over me, washed me away, as im nothing more than a woman of sand, left by a careless child too near the water’
* ‘It’s a beautiful may day […] Mayday used to be a distress signal, a long time ago in one of those wars we studied in highschool’

Question 5

Power

Answer 5

POWER OF EXTERNAL INFLUNCES ON AN INDIVIDUAL E.G. GILEAD/ MEDIA
Beautiful [1]
* ‘The waxy pouting of her mouth’
* ‘Her hair was platinum, her teeth gems, her eyes sapphires’

THMT [1]
* ‘Everything except the wings around my face are red: the colour of blood, which defines us’
* ‘You cant make an omlette without breaking the eggs’
* ‘Fed like a prized pig’
* ‘Places are known by sings alone’ + ‘The forbidden word… sterile’

POWER OF THE MALE GENDER, SOCIETAL SUPERIORITY/ MEN OF GILEAD ENGINEERING POWER
The Virgin’s Memo [2]
* ‘or (text illegible)/ or (untranslatable)/ maybe not…’
* ‘maybe not abscesses, acne, asthma,/ son, maybe not boils’

THMT [2]
* ‘There is no doubt about who holds the real power’
* ‘Women cant add’ + ‘For them, one add one add one add one doesnt make four’

Question 6

Freedom

Answer 6

FREEDOM FROM PAST IDEOLOGIES AND REBELLING, CONTRAST IN THMT
Stafford Girls [1]
* ‘Anarchy roared in her face like a tropical wind’
* ‘She wrote her maiden name with a stick in the sand then walked/ into the sea’

THMT [1]
* ‘Women cant add’ + ‘For them, one add one add one add one doesnt make four’
* Im a cloud congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am’

FREEDOM THROUGH USE OF FEMALE VOICE AND ITS POWER. CONTRAST IN THMT
Loud [2]
* ‘One day her voice ripped out of her throat/ like a firework, with a terrible sulphurous crack’
* ‘She could call abroad without using the phone, could sing/ like an orchestra in the bath, could yawn like thunder/ watching TV’

THMT [2]
* ‘The forbidden word… sterile’
* ‘Blessed be the fruit’ + ‘May the lord open’

Question 7

Insecurity

Answer 7

INSECURITY WITHIN MARRIAGES, ISOLATION LEADING TO INSECURITY, WIVES OF GILEAD INSECURE DUE TO HANDMAIDS & THE FAILURE
Beautiful [1]
* ‘They gasped/ as her bones danced/ in a gold dress in the arms/ of her wooden prince’
* ‘Gawped/ as she posed alone/ in front of the Taj Mahal’

THMT [1]
* ‘I want to see as little of you as possible’
* ‘Many of the wives have such gardens, it’s something for them to order and maintain and care for’

BODILY INSECURITY THROUGH UNREALISTIC STANDARDS/ OBESSION AND REMOVAL OF BODILY AUTONOMY, LACK OF CONTROL LEADS TO IT + ISOLATION/ DISASSOCIATION
The Diet [2]
* ‘No sugar/, salt, dairy, fat, protein, starch or acohol’
* ‘A fortnight in, she was/ eight stone; by the end of the month, she was skin and bone’

THMT [2]
* ‘Fed like a prized pig’
* ‘I’m a cloud congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am’

Question 8

Relationships

Answer 8

DISAPPROVAL OF ATYPICAL RELATIONSHIPS E.G. HOMOSEXUALITY AND FRIENDSHIP (IN GILEAD)
White Writing [1]
* ‘No laws written to gaurd you’
* ‘No poems written to praise you’

THMT [1]
* ‘There are three new bodies on the wall […] The two others have purple placcards around their necks: Gender Treachery’
* ‘We arent allowed to go in there except in twos. […] The truth is that she is my spy and I am hers’

NEGATIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD AND BODY IMAGE, DUE TO LACK FO AGENCY THMT AND LINK TO FERTILITY
The Diet [2]
* ‘No sugar/, salt, dairy, fat, protein, starch or acohol’
* ‘A fortnight in, she was/ eight stone; by the end of the month, she was skin and bone’

THMT [2]
* ‘Fed like a prized pig’
* ‘I’m a cloud congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am’

Question 9

Opposing Ideas & Values

Answer 9

OPPOSING VIEWS ON HOMOSEXUALITY IN MODERN VS GILEAD
White Writing [1]
* ‘No laws written to gaurd you’
* ‘No poems written to praise you’

THMT [1]
* ‘There are three new bodies on the wall. […] The two others have purple placcards around their necks: Gender Treachery’
* ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ - Genesis 1:28 NOT IN NOVEL

OPPOSING VIEWS THROUGH FEMALE CONTRIBUTION ADVOCACY IN MODERN AND OUTLAW IN GILEAD
Loud [2]
* ‘One day her voice ripped out of her throat/ like a firework, with a terrible sulphurous crack’
* ‘She could call abroad without using the phone, could sing/ like an orchestra in the bath, could yawn like thunder/ watching TV’

THMT [2]
* ‘Women cant add’ + ‘For them, one add one add one add one doesnt make four’
* ‘We are sacred Ambulatory Chalices’ + ‘We are two-legged wombs, thats all’

Question 10

Victimisation

Answer 10

WOMEN VICTIMISED THROUGH BODILY FUNCTION AND PURPOSE
The Long Queen [1]
* ‘The pain when a girl/ first bled to be insignificant, no cause for complaint’
* ‘Push till the room screamed scarlet and children/ bawled and slithered into their arms, sore flowers’

THMT [1]
* ‘We are containers, its only the insides of our bodies that are important’
* ‘You cant make an omlette without breaking the eggs’

WOMEN VICTIMISED THROUGH SEVERE LOSS OF IDENTITY E.G. DIANA (FOREGIN FAMILY) & MARILIYN (MEDIA) & OFFRED AND DESTRUCTION OF INDIVIDUALITY
Beautiful [2]
* ‘Her hair was platinum, her teeth gems, her eyes sapphires’
* ‘Ankles crossed, knees clamped, hands clasped’

THMT [2]
* ‘Everything except the wings around my face is red: the colour of blood which defines us’
* ‘Offred’ + ‘Ofglen’ + ‘Ofwarren’

Question 11

Changing Social Attitudes

Answer 11

WOMEN’S VOICE CELEBRATED IN MODERN, CONDEMNED IN GILEAD, PROGRESSIVE VS REGRESSIVE ATTIDTUDES
Loud [1]
* ‘One day her voice ripped out of her throat/ like a firework, with a terrible sulphurous crack’
* ‘She could call abroad without using the phone, could sing/ like an orchestra in the bath, could yawn like thunder/ watching TV’

THMT [1]
* ‘The forbidden word… sterile’
* ‘Blessed be the fruit’ + ‘May the lord open’

WOMEN’S GROWING STRENGTH AND POWER IN MODERN, CONDEMNED/ PREVENTED IN GILEAD, PROGRESSIVE VS REGRESSIVE ATTITUDES + (EVEN MODERN -VE ATTITUDES NOT FULLY REMOVED)
Tall [2]
* ‘The woman had height, grew tall, was taller daily’
* ‘tall’ + ‘taller daily’ + ‘taller as she went’ + ‘taller/ was colder, aloner, no wiser’

THMT [2]
* ‘Women cant add’ + ‘For them one add one add one add one doesnt make four’
* ‘We are containers, its only the insides of our bodies that are important’

Question 12

Fear

Answer 12

FEAR LINKED TO VOCAL EXPRESSION/ EXPRESSIONISM
Loud [1]
* ‘One day her voice ripped out of her throat/ like a firework, with a terrible sulphurous crack’
* ‘She could call abroad without using the phone, could sing/ like an orchestra in the bath, could yawn like thunder/ watching TV’

THMT [1]
* ‘We learned to whisper almost without sound’
* ‘There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore, not officially, thats the law’

SOCIETY HAS FEAR OF WOMEN IN POWER + TRIES TO INHIBIT IT
Tall [2]
* ‘Turned and fled like a boy’
* ‘Knelt in the shower’

THMT [2]
* ‘Woment cant add’ + ‘For them one add one add one add one doesnt make four’
* ‘The commander could give me away so easily, by a look, by a gesture’
* ‘There is no doubt about who holds the real power’

Question 13

Rebellion & Resistance

Answer 13

OFFRED BEING PASSIVE WHEREAS TALL PROTAGONIS REBELLS AGAINST STEREOTYPES
Tall [1]
* ‘Her clothes would be curtains’
* ‘The stars trembled’

THMT [1]
* ‘I dont tend to think too much’ + ‘Thinking can hurt your chances’
* ‘nolite te bastardes carborundorum’ + ‘Fat lot of good it did her. Why fight’

WOMEN REBELLING AGAINST SOCIETY E.G. MOIRA’S DEFIANCE
Stafford Girls [2]
* ‘Anarchy roared in her face like a tropical wind’
* ‘She wrote her maiden name with a stick in the sand then walked/ into the sea’

THMT [2]
* ‘Moira had power now’ + ‘Moira is our fantasy’
* ‘I want gallantry from her, swashbuckling, heroism, single handed combat. Something I lack’