fertility

point 1 - weaponisation of fertility

fertility as a tool for female oppression n social control

point 1 quotation: twisted way of destroying the superficiality associated with appearance

"We are containers, it’s only the insides of our bodies that are important." (ch17)

point 1 quotation: certain disadvantageous-ness of womanhood

"Aunt Elizabeth inspects it: a girl, poor thing." (ch21)

point 1 quotation: purpose of female existence?

"We are for breeding purposes." (ch23)

point 1 quotation: “Biblical” female pathway to salvation

"She shall be saved by childbearing." (ch34)

point 1 AO3: Nazi Germany

Gilead's policies echo real-world histories of reproductive control. Nazi Germany’s Lebensborn program sought to increase Aryan births, while Margaret Atwood herself has cited the forced sterilization of Indigenous women in Canada and the treatment of enslaved Black women in America, who were often valued primarily for their reproductive potential

point 1 AO4 - compare to 1984: procreation = loyalty

sex is only used as a tool to prove party loyalty, in increasing the population

point 1 AO5 - Lee Briscoe Thompson » biological determinism

Critics like Lee Briscoe Thompson argue that Atwood critiques "biological determinism"—the idea that women’s value is inherently tied to their ability to bear children. Others, like Gina Wisker, highlight how Gilead constructs a false sanctity around fertility, making it a tool of both oppression and reverence

point 2: fertility paradox

fertility n death: the paradox of womanhood in Gilead

point 2 quotation - perils of childbirth

"Now that she’s the carrier of life, she is closer to death, and needs special security." (ch5)

point 2 quotation: menstruation cycle

"Every month there is a moon, gigantic, round, heavy, an omen." (ch13)

point 2 quotation: Aunts’ significant role » end product

"Aunt Elizabeth kneels, with an outspread towel to catch the baby…oh praise." (ch21)

point 2 quotation - hopes resting on childbirth

"Cora has begun to cry. I was her hope, I’ve failed her. Now she will always be childless." (ch46)

point 2 AO3 - historical childbirth opinions

Before modern medicine, maternal mortality was common, and women were often regarded as vessels of lineage continuation rather than individuals. The Puritans—whose ideology influenced Gilead—believed a woman's primary duty was childbirth, even at the risk of her own life

point 2 AO4 - compare to The Yellow Wallpaper » female control

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper explores similar anxieties around female bodies and control, particularly in relation to motherhood and medical authority. Both texts critique how patriarchal societies frame women’s health as something to be monitored and controlled

point 2 AO5 - Barbara Hill Rigney » motherhood without emotion

Barbara Hill Rigney notes that fertility in The Handmaid’s Tale is a "double-edged sword" - it grants women temporary status but ultimately reinforces their expendability. Others argue that Gilead turns reproduction into a ritualistic horror, stripping motherhood of any emotional connection

point 3 - coercive system effects

commodification of women’s bodies n the illusion of choice

point 3 quotation - ownership in the Ceremony

"I do not say making love… nor does rape cover it: nothing is going on here that I haven’t signed up for." (ch16)

point 3 quotation - mindsets of self-sacrifice

"The greater the risk, the greater the glory." (Ch19)

point 3 quotation - mere functionality of female bodies

"We both know what my body is for." (Ch32)

point 3 quotation - women ever only owned by men

"He stops at the foot… where the tattoo is, a Braille he can read, a cattle-brand. It means ownership." (Ch39)

point 3 AO3 - historical control of women

he novel echoes how women’s bodies have been historically controlled through forced marriage, sex slavery, and reproductive coercion. The Roman Catholic doctrine of coverture in the 19th century rendered married women legal extensions of their husbands. Atwood also draws on real historical examples of sexual servitude, such as the Comfort Women in WWII

point 3 AO4 - compare to Brave New World » the illusion of choice

In "Brave New World," the "illusion of choice" refers to the idea that citizens within the World State believe they have personal freedom to make decisions, while in reality, their lives are completely controlled and manipulated by the government through conditioning, hypnopaedia, and a carefully engineered social structure, essentially giving them only the appearance of choice without any real agency to deviate from the prescribed norms

point 3 AO5 - Naomi Alderman » the guise of social stability

Naomi Alderman has also argued that Gilead’s rituals expose how power structures normalise abuse under the guise of social stability