Definition dystopie + les thèmes dans THT
Introduction 1min37
Margaret Atwood once said « Men often ask me, Why are your female characters so
paranoid? It’s not paranoia. It’s recognition of their situation.» Dystopian fiction, by imagining
authoritarian futures, offers a powerful means to critique the present. These works
exaggerate control and repression to better reveal the cracks already visible in our real-world
systems. One of the most recurring themes is the role of women in societies shaped by fear,
violence, and hierarchy. Feminism finds its place in dystopias through the exploration of
gender inequality, identity, and resistance. This leads us to the question : To what extent do
dystopian works reflect feminist concerns in their portrayal of gender roles and systems of
power ?
To answer this, we will analyze five major dystopian works :
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Article The Handmaid’s Tale is a Warning to Conservative Women by Sarah Jones, in
The New Republic
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Hunger Games (through its movie poster) by Suzanne Collins
House Beautiful : Bringing the War Home by Martha Rosler
Those documents will demonstrate that feminism in dystopias is reflected through three key
dimensions : the critique of gender oppression, the representation of female resistance, and
the questioning of societal norms and traditional roles.
I. The Critique of Gender Oppression 3min55
(THT + article)
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale offers a dystopian world in which women’s identities
are reduced to their reproductive function. In Gilead, their roles are rigidly defined : Wives
(the elites), Marthas (domestic servants), and Handmaids, whose sole purpose is to bear
children for the ruling class. Their autonomy is stripped away, both physically and
symbolically. The protagonist’s name « Offred » reflects this loss of identity : she is literally
« of Fred », the Commander she is assigned to.
Atwood also emphasizes the psychological impact of this oppression. In one powerful
moment, the protagonist describes her ritual of dressing :
« Everything except the wings around my face is red : the color of blood, which defines us. »
This visual and linguistic uniformity highlights how the regime enforces control over women’s
bodies and minds. The red cloak represents fertility, but also subjugation. The « wings » on
their bonnets both restrict vision and visibility, reflecting enforced silence and invisibility.
This fictional system echoes real-world dynamics, as Sarah Jones emphasizes in her article
The Handmaid’s Tale is a Warning to Conservative Women. She draws a clear parallel
between Gilead and American society :
« We don’t divide women into Marthas, Handmaids, Econowives, and Wives ; we call them
‘the help,’ ‘surrogates,’ the working class, and the one percent. »
, Jones shows that Atwood’s world is less speculative than it seems : rooted in history, and
frighteningly close to modern reality. Her focus on figures like Serena Joy, who help build and
maintain patriarchal systems, deepens the critique. These « Serena Joys » exist outside of
fiction : women who uphold misogyny from positions of privilege, reinforcing the very
structures that oppress others.
Through both Atwood’s novel and Jones’s analysis, dystopia becomes a mirror : it
exaggerates gender oppression not to invent it, but to reveal how deeply embedded it
already is.
II. The Representation of Female Resistance 5min50
(Divergent + THG)
If The Handmaid’s Tale shows the consequences of submission, Divergent explores the
necessity of rebellion. In this society, individuals are sorted into factions based on dominant
virtues. Tris, the protagonist, is Divergent : she doesn’t belong to any one category. Her
identity threatens the system because it refuses simplification.
« My blood cries out that it belongs to her, and struggles to return to her, and I hear her
words in my mind as I run, telling me to be brave. »
Her resistance is internal as well as external. By embracing complexity, she subverts a world
that demands conformity. Tris becomes a feminist symbol of individual self-determination in a
system designed to erase difference.
Similarly, The Hunger Games illustrates resistance through visual and symbolic language.
The film poster places Katniss Everdeen at the center, clad in black, with mechanical wings
extending behind her. She is framed like an icon : half-soldier, half-rebel angel.
The mockingjay symbol, behind her, signifies a movement larger than herself. It transforms
her personal survival into collective resistance. The tagline « The courage on one will
change the world » positions female bravery not just as emotional resilience, but as political
power.
Katniss, like Tris, defies what society expects of her. She does not conform to traditional
femininity, nor does she submit to male protection. Instead, she leads, fights, and chooses
her own path : embodying a feminist vision of strength, agency, and transformation.
III. The Questioning of Societal Norms and Traditional Roles 7min40
(House Beautiful + return to The Handmaid’s Tale)
Martha Rosler’s photomontage Bringing the War Home presents a domestic scene disrupted
by war. A woman calmly cleans her curtains, seemingly oblivious to the destruction visible
through the window. At first glance, she appears passive, enclosed in her domestic role. But
her act of cleaning becomes symbolic : a quiet resistance to chaos, a refusal to be defined by
the violence outside.
This image critiques how women are confined to domestic spaces, even as political turmoil
unfolds. Yet it also suggests that resistance can exist in these very spaces, that everyday
acts may carry political meaning when performed in defiance of the surrounding world.
This brings us back to Serena Joy in The Handmaid’s Tale : a woman who once had power in
shaping Gilead, only to become imprisoned by its values. Sarah Jones points out that women
like Serena, figures who promote traditional gender roles, are not anomalies, but essential to
Introduction 1min37
Margaret Atwood once said « Men often ask me, Why are your female characters so
paranoid? It’s not paranoia. It’s recognition of their situation.» Dystopian fiction, by imagining
authoritarian futures, offers a powerful means to critique the present. These works
exaggerate control and repression to better reveal the cracks already visible in our real-world
systems. One of the most recurring themes is the role of women in societies shaped by fear,
violence, and hierarchy. Feminism finds its place in dystopias through the exploration of
gender inequality, identity, and resistance. This leads us to the question : To what extent do
dystopian works reflect feminist concerns in their portrayal of gender roles and systems of
power ?
To answer this, we will analyze five major dystopian works :
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Article The Handmaid’s Tale is a Warning to Conservative Women by Sarah Jones, in
The New Republic
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Hunger Games (through its movie poster) by Suzanne Collins
House Beautiful : Bringing the War Home by Martha Rosler
Those documents will demonstrate that feminism in dystopias is reflected through three key
dimensions : the critique of gender oppression, the representation of female resistance, and
the questioning of societal norms and traditional roles.
I. The Critique of Gender Oppression 3min55
(THT + article)
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale offers a dystopian world in which women’s identities
are reduced to their reproductive function. In Gilead, their roles are rigidly defined : Wives
(the elites), Marthas (domestic servants), and Handmaids, whose sole purpose is to bear
children for the ruling class. Their autonomy is stripped away, both physically and
symbolically. The protagonist’s name « Offred » reflects this loss of identity : she is literally
« of Fred », the Commander she is assigned to.
Atwood also emphasizes the psychological impact of this oppression. In one powerful
moment, the protagonist describes her ritual of dressing :
« Everything except the wings around my face is red : the color of blood, which defines us. »
This visual and linguistic uniformity highlights how the regime enforces control over women’s
bodies and minds. The red cloak represents fertility, but also subjugation. The « wings » on
their bonnets both restrict vision and visibility, reflecting enforced silence and invisibility.
This fictional system echoes real-world dynamics, as Sarah Jones emphasizes in her article
The Handmaid’s Tale is a Warning to Conservative Women. She draws a clear parallel
between Gilead and American society :
« We don’t divide women into Marthas, Handmaids, Econowives, and Wives ; we call them
‘the help,’ ‘surrogates,’ the working class, and the one percent. »
, Jones shows that Atwood’s world is less speculative than it seems : rooted in history, and
frighteningly close to modern reality. Her focus on figures like Serena Joy, who help build and
maintain patriarchal systems, deepens the critique. These « Serena Joys » exist outside of
fiction : women who uphold misogyny from positions of privilege, reinforcing the very
structures that oppress others.
Through both Atwood’s novel and Jones’s analysis, dystopia becomes a mirror : it
exaggerates gender oppression not to invent it, but to reveal how deeply embedded it
already is.
II. The Representation of Female Resistance 5min50
(Divergent + THG)
If The Handmaid’s Tale shows the consequences of submission, Divergent explores the
necessity of rebellion. In this society, individuals are sorted into factions based on dominant
virtues. Tris, the protagonist, is Divergent : she doesn’t belong to any one category. Her
identity threatens the system because it refuses simplification.
« My blood cries out that it belongs to her, and struggles to return to her, and I hear her
words in my mind as I run, telling me to be brave. »
Her resistance is internal as well as external. By embracing complexity, she subverts a world
that demands conformity. Tris becomes a feminist symbol of individual self-determination in a
system designed to erase difference.
Similarly, The Hunger Games illustrates resistance through visual and symbolic language.
The film poster places Katniss Everdeen at the center, clad in black, with mechanical wings
extending behind her. She is framed like an icon : half-soldier, half-rebel angel.
The mockingjay symbol, behind her, signifies a movement larger than herself. It transforms
her personal survival into collective resistance. The tagline « The courage on one will
change the world » positions female bravery not just as emotional resilience, but as political
power.
Katniss, like Tris, defies what society expects of her. She does not conform to traditional
femininity, nor does she submit to male protection. Instead, she leads, fights, and chooses
her own path : embodying a feminist vision of strength, agency, and transformation.
III. The Questioning of Societal Norms and Traditional Roles 7min40
(House Beautiful + return to The Handmaid’s Tale)
Martha Rosler’s photomontage Bringing the War Home presents a domestic scene disrupted
by war. A woman calmly cleans her curtains, seemingly oblivious to the destruction visible
through the window. At first glance, she appears passive, enclosed in her domestic role. But
her act of cleaning becomes symbolic : a quiet resistance to chaos, a refusal to be defined by
the violence outside.
This image critiques how women are confined to domestic spaces, even as political turmoil
unfolds. Yet it also suggests that resistance can exist in these very spaces, that everyday
acts may carry political meaning when performed in defiance of the surrounding world.
This brings us back to Serena Joy in The Handmaid’s Tale : a woman who once had power in
shaping Gilead, only to become imprisoned by its values. Sarah Jones points out that women
like Serena, figures who promote traditional gender roles, are not anomalies, but essential to
