Subjugation and Power of Female Body in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) explores the notion of femininity in the context of a dystopian society of Gilead. In this totalitarian society, women are defined by reproduction ability of their bodies. Exploitation, objectification and alienation of the handmaid’s body can be explored in both the text and the context within which the novel has been written. In this novel, the negative and instrumental view towards female body can be explored in the light of biological and social contexts. The underlying assumption of these discourses is that female body can be manipulated and appropriated by patriarchal ideology in the name of religion and social reform. Tracing views on body in history, religion, society, and the novel itself, this paper attempts to explore how female body is represented and perceived. The following study focuses on the ways biological and social views try to define female body with certain functions and consequently identify women based on deterministic gendered ideologies. It also discusses the body’s potential to act as an empowering force to oppose different manifestations of power.