"It´s only the insides of our bodies that are important" : A comparison of Margaret Atwood´s novel The Handmaid´s Tale and the tv-adaptation of the novel made by Bruce Miller

Abstract: This essay will compare Margaret Atwood´s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale to the tv-adaptation of the novel by Bruce Miller. In the original work, the protagonist Offred narrates the story of her life in a patriarchal society called Gilead. In contrast, the viewers are guided by different sound and visual strategies in the series. One sound strategy is the use of voice-overs as the viewers can hear Offred´s thoughts in situations where she is being mistreated. In addition, visual strategies include the viewers watching the ceremony from a bird-view angle and reviewing the scene as outsiders looking in. I argue that the novel provides a deeper understanding of how it is to live in Gilead as a handmaid, as Offred, because of how the novel is told through first-person narration. Also, in both versions, Offred is objectified by the Gilead society, but in the tv-version, I believe that she is also objectified by specifics of the adaptation. The essay will focus on the objectifying treatment of Offred by comparing the novel and the series and the use of these strategies and discuss relevant terms from the story through the narrative of Offred. The analysis is divided into three passages from the novel and corresponding episodes from the series’ first season. They are chosen since the objectifying treatment of Offred is demonstrated within them. The theoretical framework is feminist theories of objectification to help me compare the novel and the series regarding this aspect, primarily, the objectification theory established by Barbara Fredrickson and Tomi-Ann Roberts. The essay, all in all, shows that the handmaids, as fertile women, in the patriarchal society of the Gilead are treated as mere objects whether through their sexuality or their reproductive function.