The Handmaid's Tale Caryl Churchill And Margaret Atwood
510 Words3 Pages
Carol Ann Duffy, Caryl Churchill and Margaret Atwood are all feminist writers who had their work published in the twentieth century, during which time women faced (and still face) restrictions on education (the ability to read and write), their job roles (their position in the hierarchy at work) and being financially independent. In this essay, I will be discussing how women within Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls and a range of Carol Ann Duffy’s poems from her The World’s Wife collection.
Women in The Handmaid’s Tale, Top Girls and Standing Female Nude face problems with sexuality, which they attempt, and to an extent, succeed, in challenging. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Moira makes a statement about sexuality versus heterosexuality. She believes that luring men away from women is not…show more content… She says, “[I] doesn't even mind getting sterilized” when she chooses to be a sex worker instead of going to the Colonies. It could be argued that this is due to her being homosexual as lesbians have intercourse for pleasure and not to reproduce, as it is biologically impossible. Therefore, she would rather have sex for pleasure than be a Handmaid and reproduce for the Gileadan society, and so in that sense, she challenges it. Another instance in the Handmaid’s Tale whereby a female character challenges the restrictions that are placed on them by society is the relationship that is reinstated with Offred and Nick – a Guardian. This relationship that she has with him, is special to her but very dangerous as Guardian’s and Handmaid’s are not allowed