'The Handmaid's Tale' - Critics Flashcards

 “manages to domesticate totalitarianism,
because she shows it peopled by such ordinary
figures” - Stimpson
 “state becomes even more frightening, because
its monstrosity seems normal, absurdly

Oppression normal” - Stimpson
 “dystopian fusion of gentleness with
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ critics militarism” - Snodgrass
 “Everyone ruled by Gilead suffers the
deprivation of having no choice” - Malak




 “dystopias dramatise the eternal conflict
between individual choice and social necessity”
- Stimpson
 “(Offred's flashbacks offer) glimpses of a life,
though not ideal...that sharply contrasts with

Individual vs State the alienation, slavery and suffering under
totalitarianism” - Malak
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ critics  “(Historical Notes are a) confirmation of
Offred's erasure from her own narrative” - Rook
 “(Offred's thoughts) keep her from becoming
totally imprisoned within the system of Gilead”
- Sheckels