The two novels, The Handmaid’s Tale and Indian Horse, are moving, first-person novels of personal difficulty in a narrow-minded and controlled environment. In this essay, I will reveal a multitude of similarities and differences between the two books, focusing on the settings and the similarities between the two societies, as well as the differences between the key characters. First, I will start off by comparing the settings of both books. In The Indian Horse, the story begins in Saul’s memory
issues regarding conflicting perspectives and control, Hughes wanted to illustrate Plath’s mental state to prove his innocence, as he was blamed for Plath’s suicide. Similarly in Margaret Atwood’s 1985 “The Handmaid’s Tale”, there is an exaggerated exploration of a patriarchal society and the conflicting perspectives of both sides, written to reflect the 1960s being a period growth in religious right power which threatened to reverse women’s rights advancements. In comparison both these texts go in
her husband (Bennett 104-105). Women who manipulated their husband and gained control of his assets defied the norm of women’s position in the fourteenth century. The church was a major part of Medieval England and controlled many peoples lives. The church and aristocracy was controlled by men. The origins of inferiority between men and women come back to the first book of the bible Genesis where it states, “your desire will be for your husband… and he will rule over you,” because the church had such
The Handmaid’s Tale-Dystopian Literary Tradition Dystopia is defined as being a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding. Dystopian is also considered to be about futuristic societies that have degraded into repressed and controlled states. Dystopian literature uses cautionary tones warning us that if we continue to live the way we do, this can be the consequence. A Dystopia is contrary of a utopia (a world where everything is perfect) and often characterized
Gender Roles of Medieval Society Throughout Anita Kay O’Pry-Renolds essay, “Men and Women as represented in Medieval Literature and Society," she speaks of the gender roles and their idealization during the medieval age. She argues that the medieval literature branches out from society and creates one that they truly want. The prologue of The Canterbury Tales and “The Wife From Bath” both surround the gender roles of societal norms. Throughout these tales, Anita Kay O’Pry-Renolds claims of gender
Set in a patriarchal society, females are represented as passive and submissive. Women are reinforced and constructed to believe that they should be submissive and silent: ‘In the fairy tales, passivity is the most valued and honoured attribute a woman can possess in life’ (Nanda, 248). Women with good heart are innocent, beautiful and usually, saved by princes. Beauty is associated with intelligence, kindness and morality. On the other hand, women who don’t possess the good qualities are portrayed
Children fairy tales are some of the first books we’re introduced to growing up. Typically, the princess is saved by the heroic prince and they lived “happily ever after”. Some may think our life should be like a fairy tales while others don’t. These tales created gender roles in which appeared to be very important. In the Grimm Brothers fairy tale, “Hansel and Gretel”, the parents leave the children in the forest to starve due to not having enough money to buy food in order to sustain life. The
poke fun on the idea of a matriarchal society, and how its better to move towards a patriarchal society. In the scene in the beginning part of movie where they start to introduce the characters as they currently are in the story, there is obvious signs of mistreatment of Cinderella. Unlike the other two girls, her step sisters, who were wearing fancy, expensive but guantly looking
(Atwood 24). The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, is a novel set in the near future where societal roles have severely changed. The most notable change is that concerning women. Whereas, in the past, women have been gaining rights and earning more “freedom to’s”, the women in the society of The Handmaid’s Tale have “freedom froms”. They have the freedom from being abused and having sexist phrases yelled at them by strangers. While this may seem like a safer society, all of the “safeness” comes
Handmaid's Tale' and Life for Women in Trump's America” explores the idea that women’s roles in society are being limited in a way that provides a current analytical perspective of women’s oppression by the men involved in the government in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Women’s economic independence being controlled by the government, which consists of predominantly males, is strikingly similar to the way men regulate women’s economic autonomy in The Handmaid’s Tale. In today’s society, discrimination