The Handmaid’s Tale as a Palimpsest: Biblical (Re)Imaginings in Margaret Atwood’s Novel

The Handmaid’s Tale inhabits an imaginary space defined by biblical narratives at a time set in the near future when low fertility has reached a critical point. The solution provided by the Bible-based totalitarian regime in place in Gilead is to offer "handmaids" as surrogate mothers to m...

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Bibliographic Details
Subtitles:Fiction, Religion and Politics in The Handmaid’s Tale
Main Author: Jeffers, Ann (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Institut f. Fundamentaltheologie 2024
In: Journal for religion, film and media
Year: 2024, Volume: 10, Issue: 1, Pages: 47-63
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Atwood, Margaret 1939-, The handmaid's tale / Bible. Judge 19-21 / Bible. Genesis 30 / Bible / Oppression (Motif) / Woman / Feminism
IxTheo Classification:CD Christianity and Culture
CG Christianity and Politics
CH Christianity and Society
FD Contextual theology
HA Bible
HB Old Testament
NBE Anthropology
NCF Sexual ethics
TK Recent history
Further subjects:B Biblical Reception
B Book of Judges
B Feminist Reading
B Palimpsest
B Gender
B The Handmaid's Tale
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Summary:The Handmaid’s Tale inhabits an imaginary space defined by biblical narratives at a time set in the near future when low fertility has reached a critical point. The solution provided by the Bible-based totalitarian regime in place in Gilead is to offer "handmaids" as surrogate mothers to members of the ruling elite. The biblical basis for this is chillingly re-enacted through the set reading of Genesis 30:1-3 preceding and legitimising the ritual rape of the household dedicated handmaiden. While this text clearly provides the rationale for addressing issues of fertility in Gilead, I will focus more specifically on how the book of Judges (specifically Judges 19-21) is marshalled to provide an implicit framework for The Handmaid ’s Tale. The paper will analyse the complex ways in which the Bible is used and abused in both the novel and the fourth series, using literary and feminist lenses. It will be argued that both narratives, the Book of Judges and Atwood’s tale contain elements of subversion and deconstruction.
ISSN:2617-3697
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for religion, film and media
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.25364/05.10:2024.1.3