Religion, Power and Gender in Margaret Atwood’s Dystopian Societies : A Reading of The Year of the Flood and The Handmaid’s Tale

Abstract: Women are traditionally counted among the victims or losers in religious power plays. On the surface, Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novels give the impression that women will be the underdogs in these stories as well. However, on closer examination and application of Michel Foucault’s techniques of power, it can be seen that women indeed have and use power to put up resistance in otherwise seemingly hopeless situations in male dominated religious societies. The religious societies in The Year of the Flood and The Handmaid’s Tale will be compared as to how they appropriate religion and power to their advantage and how women make use of power techniques such as witnessing through discourse and the forbidden written language, use of their bodies and the fraying threads of power as opportunities, as well as community and solidarity and forgiveness to turn their situation around and fight for their futures.