The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England, in a strongly patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state, known as Republic of Gilead, that has overthrown the United States government. The central character and narrator is a woman named Offred, one of the group known as "handmaids", who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the "commanders" – the ruling class of men. The novel explores themes of subjugated women in a patriarchal society and the various means by which they resist and attempt to gain individuality and independence. The novel's title echoes the component parts of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, which is a series of connected stories. The Handmaid's Tale won the 1985 Governor General's Award and the first Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987; it was also nominated for the 1986 Nebula Award, the 1986 Booker Prize, and the 1987 Prometheus Award.
| Author | Margaret Atwood |
| Publisher | McClelland and Stewart Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (ebook) |
| Followed by | The Testaments |
About The Handmaid's Tale
A woman tries to find the daughter that was taken from her in a world where sinking birth rates have lead to the mistreatment of women. The show is based on the novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood.
Achievement of The Handmaid's Tale
The series won eight Emmy Awards in 2017, including Outstanding Drama Series. Reed Morano served as an executive producer and director on the show.
Top Facts You Did Not Know About The Handmaid's Tale
Canadian literature - Canadian literature is the literature of a multicultural country, created by Indigenous people and by people of other ancestral backgrounds, in languages including Canadian English, Canadian French, Indigenous languages, and many others such as Canadian Gaelic.. Feminist science fiction - Feminist science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction focused on theories that include feminist themes including but not limited to gender inequality, sexuality, race, economics, and reproduction. Feminist SF is political because of its tendency to critique the dominant culture.. Reproduction and pregnancy in speculative fiction - Because speculative genres explore variants of reproduction, as well as possible futures, SF writers have often explored the social, political, technological, and biological consequences of pregnancy and reproduction.. Novels by Margaret Atwood.. Novels about totalitarianism.. Debut speculative fiction novels.. Canadian novels adapted into plays.. Fictional states of the United States.. Novels adapted into ballets.. Sterilization in fiction.. Governor General's Award-winning novels.. Feminist science fiction novels.. Novels set in the future.. Canadian novels adapted into films.. Novels set in Boston.. Philosophical novels.. McClelland & Stewart books.. Post-apocalyptic novels.. Religion in science fiction.. Metafictional novels.. Novels adapted into operas.. Dystopian novels.
Latest information about The Handmaid's Tale updated on July 28 2021.
