"How does Margaret Atwood portray the role of women in the Republic of Gilead?"

"How does Margaret Atwood portray the role of women in the Republic of Gilead?" The Republic of Gilead allows Offred only one function: to reproduce. She has a choice, this or death. Through 'The Handmaid's Tale' Margaret Atwood conjures up a terrifying image of a society that has completely reversed all its ideologies and principles. Setting it in America, the country often seen as the pinnacle of all things 'Western' and modern, shocks us due …

…to anything we would understand. It is a very powerful feminist novel, showing the dangers of fanaticism and religion, she manages to balance the moving tale of one women and the message of a whole society turned upside down. It is not a prophecy of things to come, but a warning that we must not become blasé about feminism and that we must remember that our society can change, and not always for the better.