The Handmaid’s Tale

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Summary

Cover of this title
The Handmaid’s Tale
Margaret Atwood

A dystopian novel on gender, sex, fertility, rebellion, and love. In the near future, most women have become infertile and the USA have transformed into a theocracy where women are either the wives of party officials, supposed to take care of the household, or have to take part in a bizarre ritual. Offred is one of them, a “handmaid”, a woman whose sole purpose is to bear children for the elites in the post-apocalyptic, theocratic society of Gilead. She tells her story, remembers the times before the theocrats took over society and her indoctrination. Using her unique position, she finds out that the religious leaders do not always practice what they preach…

· · 1985

Critical edition

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. Anchor, 1998. 311 pp., ISBN 9780385490818

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In favour of this entry

  • Addresses current affairs
  • Award-winning
  • Beyond the US and the UK
  • Democratic and political education
  • Explores historical contexts
  • Gender equality
  • Silenced voices
  • Students can identify with the text
  • Recommended by a federal state: Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt

Adapted as

  • Audiobook
  • Film
  • Graphic novel
  • TV series