*This article contains potential spoilers for Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale"
On April 26th, 2017, Hulu premiered the highly anticipated "The Handmaid's Tale" a 10-episode adaption of Margaret Atwood's 1985 dystopic novel. Now, with five episodes, "The Handmaid's Tale" is garnering critical acclaim, and spurning online discussions about how it feels a little too realistic, especially with the current political climate. "The Handmaid's Tale" is set in Gilead (post-coup USA), a theocratic state ruled by the Old Testament of the Bible. Women are stripped of their jobs, money, and any livelihood they have. They are forced to either be breeders, wives, domestic help, or shipped off to the mysterious and deadly colonies. The women of "The Handmaid's Tale" are simultaneously the weakest and strongest characters, an oxymoron that sets the tone for a polarizing story that is more of a caveat than entertainment.
The protagonist of "The Handmaid's Tale" is Offred (Elisabeth Moss), a young woman forced into what is essentially sexual slavery, or in Gilead terms, a handmaid. Handmaids are fertile women, a rarity in a country with plummeting fertility rates. They are captured, brainwashed in extremely sexist, fundamentally religion classes, taught by cruel, older women. Once a month they participate in "The Ceremony" where the commanders have sex with them in the hopes of conception. Despite having a fancy name, "The Ceremony" is a flimsy cover up for rape; in Gilead rape is legal, if it involves the Commanders and their handmaids. Offred, formerly known as June had a life. She had a career, friends, a daughter, and a husband. She was free. Now, she's a prisoner.
The women of "The Handmaid's Tale" are weak because of their circumstances. They have been stripped of their careers, money, identities, and freedom. The women of Gilead are expected to be obedient and complicit. They are prohibited from reading, writing, equality is a distant throwback to halcyon days. The handmaids are not even graced with identities. They have been stripped of their names, and are identified by the name of the commanders they live with. Offred means "Of Fred", she belongs to Fred, not to herself; "herself" does not exist. The handmaid is a womb, not a person. A method of procreation. Handmaids are isolated, afraid, and weak, just as the men want them to be.
Even though the women of "The Handmaid's Tale" are rendered weak by their circumstances, they are not weak characters. The handmaids central to the story do not allow their circumstances to erase their identities and their internal motivation to fight. Offred, through narration, expresses her rebellious thoughts. She has not given in to the regime, rather she has a plan to fight for herself, her fellow women, and the daughter that was taken from her. She has not become complicit. Other characters, like the mysterious Ofglen (Alexis Bledel), Offred's shopping companion are directly involved with attempts to topple the government. Moira (Samira Wiley), Offred's best friend, is shown through flashbacks to be a strong and rebellious woman. The handmaids know, that if they give in, any hope of liberation is moot. They hold on to whatever scrap of humanity and cling to it, it's the only lifeline they have.
New episodes of "The Handmaid's Tale" on Wednesdays on Hulu.
