Motherhood in a Patriarchal Society : A Feminist Analysis of Motherhood in The Handmaid´s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Abstract: Margaret Atwood The Handmaid´s Tale displays a discouraging picture of a patrairchal society where women have little to nothing to say about how they want to live their life. Decresing population rates due to fertility issues make the ability to have children a very important aspect of their society. For this purpose, Handmaids are used as surrogates for high-ranking Commanders and their Wives. This thesis aims to explore how motherhood is portrayed in the novel and analyze these mother/child relationships to see how they affect the protagoists and their status in the patrairchal society of Gilead. Motherhood is explored from a feminist persepctive with the help of theories on motherhood by well-known feminist theorists Nancy Chodorow, Adrienne Rich and Andrea O´Reilly.