ISSUES OF CHILDHOOD AND SOCIAL UPBRINGING IN MARGARET ATWOOD’S DYSTOPIAN NOVEL “THE HANDMAID’S TALE”
Abstract
This article analyzes issues of childhood and social upbringing in the context of the dystopian society described in Canadian writer Margaret Atwood's celebrated work, The Handmaid's Tale. The paper demonstrates how, in the religiously and ideologically controlled society of Gilead, childhood, motherhood, and the educational system are transformed into political mechanisms. The study sheds light on the influence of the educational model presented in the work on human freedom, the formation of gender roles, and the ideological control of individual consciousness.
Keywords
Margaret Atwood, dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, dystopia, social education, childhood, gender, totalitarianism, control, feminism.
References
- Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1985.
- Howells, Coral Ann. Margaret Atwood. Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
- Baccolini, Raffaella. “Gender and Dystopia in Margaret Atwood’s Works.” Utopian Studies, 2003.
- Hengen, Shannon. Margaret Atwood’s Power: Mirrors, Reflections, and Images in Selected Fiction and Poetry. Toronto: Second Story Press, 1993.
- Potts, Donna. Contemporary Australian and Canadian Fiction: Writing in the Time of Globalisation. Rodopi, 2012.
- Cooke, Nathalie. Margaret Atwood: A Critical Companion. Greenwood Press, 2004.
- Staels, Hilde. “Margaret Atwood’s Dystopian Vision: The Handmaid’s Tale.” English Studies, 1995.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.