Explore how religion and secularity are presented in Frankenstein and The Handmaid’s
tale?
Although religion and secularity initially appear as oppositions in both Shelley’s Frankenstein
and Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, both authors seem to favour and promote a happy
medium between the two in their respective novels. Both novels can be interpreted as
taking a critical stance to the extremities of secularity and religion; they reject unrestrained
pursuits of science, but equally critique severe religious establishments and regimes. These
criticisms come across as fairly realistic and measured, as the authors recognise the
necessity of scientific pursuit as well as promoting values that are often associated with
religion such as faith kindness and hope. It is worth noting that Frankenstein mainly focuses
on the extreme of secularity, being science, as there is largely an absence of religion, and
The Handmaid’s Tale, being set in a theocratic dictatorship lends itself to the critique of
dogmatic religious beliefs, however there are aspects of both novels that address the
opposing view.
The hypocrisy of the church is a reoccurring theme through the Handmaids tale illuminating
the abuse of power. This is more limited in Frankenstein to one specific section centred
around Justine’s trial. Religion’s ability to manipulate individuals is exemplified during the
trial where the priest “threatened and menaced” “excommunication and hellfire,” she later
describes her confessor having “besieged me” the warlike imagery illustrates the powerful
ability of religion to distort the judgments of people, attacking from multiple angles. This
particular criticism of the Catholic church may have been personal to Shelley, who’s
stepmother was a Roman Catholic and attempted to enforce these views on Shelley. She
was not allowed to attend school, subsequentially Shelley recalls her stepmother as ‘a
woman I shudder to think of’ and perhaps her criticisms of the Catholic institution can be
attributed to this fractured and hostile relationship. Similarly, the Bible in The Handmaid’s
Tale, appears to have been distorted for the purpose of control. When supposedly quoting
the bible “blessed are the silent” Offred interjects claiming “I knew they made that up too”
suggesting that biblical references on many occasions have be misused to uphold the
theocracy. The direct address to the reader reinforces the sense that Offred is reclaiming
her story and life as her own, passing judgment on certain elements. This is further mirrored
by the distortion of biblical figures, for example the armed guards are known as “angels,”
which we tend to associate with goodness, protection and sacredness. These euphemistic
titles that are initially suggestive of good intentions, are juxtaposed to their destructive
purposes as soldiers “in their neat black uniforms,” the colour black further distorts their
titles of angles which tend to be related to the colour white, enhancing the ominous
atmosphere in the initial chapters.
However, in many ways the authors are just as critical of extreme secularity in the form of
science, and lack of faith suggesting that at times it is just as dogmatic as religion. Atwood
subtly implies that the state is a result of excessive scientific pursuits relating to the
weapons such as “agent orange,” which was being used at the time to fight Communist
insurgency in Vietnam, however innocent civilians were caught up in the horrific side effects
which was widespread considering the US army had dropped 13 million gallons of it. Offred
tale?
Although religion and secularity initially appear as oppositions in both Shelley’s Frankenstein
and Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, both authors seem to favour and promote a happy
medium between the two in their respective novels. Both novels can be interpreted as
taking a critical stance to the extremities of secularity and religion; they reject unrestrained
pursuits of science, but equally critique severe religious establishments and regimes. These
criticisms come across as fairly realistic and measured, as the authors recognise the
necessity of scientific pursuit as well as promoting values that are often associated with
religion such as faith kindness and hope. It is worth noting that Frankenstein mainly focuses
on the extreme of secularity, being science, as there is largely an absence of religion, and
The Handmaid’s Tale, being set in a theocratic dictatorship lends itself to the critique of
dogmatic religious beliefs, however there are aspects of both novels that address the
opposing view.
The hypocrisy of the church is a reoccurring theme through the Handmaids tale illuminating
the abuse of power. This is more limited in Frankenstein to one specific section centred
around Justine’s trial. Religion’s ability to manipulate individuals is exemplified during the
trial where the priest “threatened and menaced” “excommunication and hellfire,” she later
describes her confessor having “besieged me” the warlike imagery illustrates the powerful
ability of religion to distort the judgments of people, attacking from multiple angles. This
particular criticism of the Catholic church may have been personal to Shelley, who’s
stepmother was a Roman Catholic and attempted to enforce these views on Shelley. She
was not allowed to attend school, subsequentially Shelley recalls her stepmother as ‘a
woman I shudder to think of’ and perhaps her criticisms of the Catholic institution can be
attributed to this fractured and hostile relationship. Similarly, the Bible in The Handmaid’s
Tale, appears to have been distorted for the purpose of control. When supposedly quoting
the bible “blessed are the silent” Offred interjects claiming “I knew they made that up too”
suggesting that biblical references on many occasions have be misused to uphold the
theocracy. The direct address to the reader reinforces the sense that Offred is reclaiming
her story and life as her own, passing judgment on certain elements. This is further mirrored
by the distortion of biblical figures, for example the armed guards are known as “angels,”
which we tend to associate with goodness, protection and sacredness. These euphemistic
titles that are initially suggestive of good intentions, are juxtaposed to their destructive
purposes as soldiers “in their neat black uniforms,” the colour black further distorts their
titles of angles which tend to be related to the colour white, enhancing the ominous
atmosphere in the initial chapters.
However, in many ways the authors are just as critical of extreme secularity in the form of
science, and lack of faith suggesting that at times it is just as dogmatic as religion. Atwood
subtly implies that the state is a result of excessive scientific pursuits relating to the
weapons such as “agent orange,” which was being used at the time to fight Communist
insurgency in Vietnam, however innocent civilians were caught up in the horrific side effects
which was widespread considering the US army had dropped 13 million gallons of it. Offred
