serena joy

point 1: serena joy as a victim of…

…the system she helped create

point 1 quotation - irony of her silencing

“She doesn’t make speeches any more. She has become speechless.” (Ch8, pg52)

point 1 quotation - consumed by the system she has endorsed

“Something like [collapsing] must have happened to her, once she saw the true shape of things to come.” (Ch8, pg52)

point 1 quotation - metaphor for her own obsoletion

“Serena Joy has tidy habits. She wouldn’t throw away anything not quite worn out.” (Ch19, pg116)

point 1 AO3 - Phyllis Schlafly, 1980s

Serena Joy mirrors real-life figures like Schlafly, who campaigned against women’s rights yet lived a paradoxically empowered life

point 1 AO4 - compare to The Stepford Wives: conformity » destruction

Women who conform to patriarchal expectations only to be destroyed by them

point 1 AO5 - feminist criticism: Serena represents internalised misogyny where…

…she upholds patriarchy but suffers under it

point 2: Serena Joy and the Handmaid’s relationship is defined by…

…resentment and power struggles

point 2 quotation - Serena’s disgust at Offred reflecting her powerlessness

“There is loathing in her voice, as if the touch of my flesh sickens and contaminates her.” (Ch16, pg102)

point 2 quotation - hostility from misplaced anger

“She hated me too and resented my presence.” (Ch26, pg166)

point 2 quotation - Serena’s deep-seated resentment

“‘You could have left me something….Just like the other one. A slut. You’ll end up the same.’” (Ch45, pg295)

point 2 AO3 - patriarchal divide-and-conquer

Throughout history, patriarchal systems have pitted women against each other = makes it easer to oppress women who already divided amongst themselves

point 2 AO4 - compare to An Inspector Calls: class divisions upon intra-gender

Mrs Priestley is dismissive and prejudiced of Eva because of her class

point 2 AO5 - Marxist criticism: minority as oppressors

Serena enforces the system because she has a small stake in its power - a classic example of a privileged minority maintaining oppression

point 3: serena joy’s cold exterior and…

…hidden vulnerability: a defence mechanism

point 3 quotation - serena hides vulnerability under a facade of strength

“A mistake to notice weakness in her.” (Ch31, pg211)

point 3 quotation - tight control over emotions

“With firmness; no, more than that, a clenched look, like a purse snapping shut.” (Ch31, pg212)

point 3 quotation - Offred sees Serena as emotionally impenetrable » survival?

“She’s made of wood, or iron she can’t imagine.” (Ch31, pg212)

point 3 AO3 - women in loveless marriages

In eras where women were trapped in oppressive marriages, many developed hardened exteriors as a coping mechanism

point 3 AO4 - Lady Macbeth » facade

Both women mask vulnerability with rigid control and cruelty

point 3 AO5 - feminist criticism: losing emotion in an oppressive world

Her coldness is a response to living in a world that grants her only a fraction of power—and even that is slipping away