Margaret Atwood's Scrapbook (THT) and other forms of Context

Sexual Reproduction/ Decreasing birth rate

-Dora Forster- hoped that children would not be born until motherhood was given the respect it deserves. wrote a book on sex radicalism

-Romanian Dictator Ceausescu forced women to take pregnancy tests,, banned birth control

-racial disparities in infant mortality rates in America

-”make a baby for christmas” Canadian MP Nickerson trying to encourage children.

Religion

-People of Hope (christian cult) isolates members, arranges marriages. Some women were even called “handmaidens.” Strict dress codes for women.

-rise of the religious right/ bible belt. region of the Southern United States that has a high amount of conservative christians.

-forced polygamy (Mormonism/ Seven Day Adventists).

-role of women in the bible Jezebels- associated with vanity and seduction in the bible

-countries that use religion e.g. Iran- use of medication as punishment inspired Atwood

-Perry Miller- scholar of American history. she studied Puritanism under him.

-”Rachel and Leah Centre” biblical story of Bilhah

-religious language- “Gilead is within you”

Environmental issues e.g. climate change, chemicals

-chemicals effects on fertility “agent orange” “lead-poison in work place increase”- chemical herbicide used in Vietnam War. It can damage vital organs, hormone and immune system

-Friends of the Earth- environmental organisation.

-gas leak from a pesticide plant in india

Race/Eugenics

-racial disparities in infant mortality rates in America

-Ku Klux Klan

-Nazis and the Aryan race

Sexism

-Christianity- believes women are lesser than men

-Second-wave feminism which focused on the legal, economic and social rights of women. against domestic violence. extremist politics

-anti-feminist backlash rise of figures such as Phyllis Schafly who thought women’s liberation was a threat to “traditional family values.”

-Atwood’s ancestor- “Half-Hanged Mary”/ Mary Webster (one of the people she dedicated The Handmaid’s Tale to

Censorship

-China, facebook and other social media sites are blocked. communist party have their own internal network.

American politics

Reaganism- conservative political and economic ideology associated with President Reagan. He was also an ardent Christian believing that there was a “spiritual war” (blending of religion and state)- his popularity led to the rise of the conservative religious right

CRITIC: Cixous/ women’s writing

the term “ecriture feminine” was coined by Cixous. who believed women had to write themselves into literature that deviates from masculine style of writing. links to dystopia genre that often centre men and how they defy their regimes.

also link to feminist criticism. Atwood fixates on female sexuality ”Zygote”

Marxism

Marx frowned upon religion believing its effects were similar to “opium”. the role of religion is prominent in THT where everything seems to have a religious precedent.

CRITIC: Mulvey

Mulvey comments on “male gaze” within film where men are placed at the centre of media and prioritised. in The Handmaid’s Tale “Jezebel’s” is an example of the male gaze

“To be seen…is to be…penetrated.” from one of the Aunt’s in the Red Centre.

Psychological literary theory

Offred’s psychological state. her suicidal ideation.

Freud:Id, ego and superego

different coping mechanisms e.g. repression, denial, sublimation

Bentham’s panopticon theory- always being watched but not knowing when or from where

East Berlin

Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale in East Berlin whilst the wall was still up. She recalls the constant feelings of secrecy around her, and disappearance or buildings whose history or past owners seemed purposefully hidden. censorship and people were often subject to prosecution.

Atwood’s comments about activism

-she comments how Mary Beard talks about how those who speak in public have so often been men so women have so suffer when they begin to speak.

-People often feel like issues in other countries such as Iran are far away and feel a disconnect. “Could it happen here?” Atwood works to present certainties

-British effect wasn’t as impactful due to Cromwell.

Literary genre

Atwood places her book not as sci-fi but as Canadian survival literature and speculative fiction.

CRITIC: Howells

the idea of the Historical Notes shifts the viewpoint from the idea of “herstory” to “history” as her narrations are viewed through a male academic lens.

CRITIC: Globe and Mail, ( 1985)/ Book review

“In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood’s pessimism comes to the fore as she attempts to frighten us into an awareness of our destiny before it’s too late” looking at the book as a work of social realism.

Atwood’s commentary on her book as a warning

“It can't

happen here could not be

depended on: Anything could

happen anywhere, given the

circumstances"