Applications of Irony and Satire in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale
Thesis: In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood employs irony, satire, and exaggeration to address feminist issues, critique totalitarian regimes, and warn against processes by which totalitarian regimes come to power and gain influence as well as the complacency of the masses that permit these regimes to exist.
Introduction
I. Setting
A. Historical Basis for Setting
1. Totalitarian examples
a. Policies pulled from theocracies worldwide
b. Application of these policies
2. Irony in allusions
a. Juxtaposition of Ceausescu and One Child Policy
b. Parodies of the domestic women and Biblical Gilead
B. Physical Setting of Gilead
1. Environmental pollution
a. Environmental pollution causes infertility
b. Sons of Jacob retain power through dehumanization
2. Repressive theocracy
a. Offred’s initial flight from Gilead
b. Danger of slipping toward extremism
II. Characters
A. Employment of Characters
1. Peiexoto
a. Characterized by Sexist Nature
b. Minimizes Offred’s authority
2. Pieixoto perpetuates the Issues Within Gilead
a. Continues the erasure of Offred from memory
b. Reflects irony of his lack of empathy for his study
B. Archetypes
1. Offred as the Unfaithful Wife
a. Adulteress before and during Gileadean period
b. Imagery of the cave used to bring emotion into the work
2. Identity
a. Forced anonymity for women underlines the dehumanizing aspects of Gilead
b. Reinforced with the bodies of Salvaging victims
III. Diction/Tone
A. Irony in Diction
1. Employment of puns
a. Title of the novel serves as a pun
b. This pun increases the irony of the novel
2. Study of language
a. Puns become a compulsive habit for Offred
b. Irony of the Soul Scrolls
B. Emotionless diction
1. Case Study in the Beginning of Section 30
a. Analysis of colloquial sayings
b. Use of Complex sentences show that thinking cannot be stamped out
2. Thoughts to begin each section
a. Illustrates how complex simple realities are
b. Undermines Gileadean authority by thinking
IV. Point of View
A. Offred’s view influences perception of Gilead
1. Attention to detail
a. Oppression as the lens through which Gilead is seen
b. Episodic nature of the plot forces readers to notice the details
2. Enhances Reader’s Perception of Gilead
a. Scenes would be unrealistic if related by a man
b. First person present tense creates sense of urgency
B. Peiexoto provides context for the narrative
1. Change to male perspective
a. Change in verb tense with change in narrator
b. Asserts himself as ultimate authority over Offred’s narration
2. “Historical Notes” as a Satire of Academia
a. Pieixoto’s pro-Gilead perspective weakens Offred’s position in the novel
b. Satire of modern academics
V. Narrative Structure
A. Discontinuous nature lends itself to the tone
1. Transcription of tapes
a. Pieixoto’s ordering of the events undermines the authority of Offred’s story
b. Atwood bases the order of events on emotional appeal of scenes
2. Employment of changing flashbacks
a. Use of flashbacks to increase the episodic nature of the plot
b. Pieixoto’s delineation of events removes Offred’s credibility as a narrator
B. Contrast between Epigraphs and historical notes
1. “A Modest Proposal”
a. Introduces the satire of the work
b. Atwood targets practicality with her satire
2. Sufi Proverb
a. Strengthens Atwood’s argument by countering the irony in “A Modest Proposal”
b. Argues against social regulation
VI. Style
A. Builds on the dystopian tradition
1. Feminist Slant
a. Does not follow traditional formula for writing dystopia
b. Primary difference is the use of a female narrator dealing with feminist issues
2. Ironic Satire
a. Christian Fundamentalism targeted by Atwood’s satire
b. Blame for Gilead placed with complacent people as well as extremists
B. Symbolism of the body
1. Use as currency
a. Use as a Bribe for Guardians in the Red Center
b. Inequality shown through the mass marriage ceremony
2. Dismemberment
a. Exemplifies the irony in Gilead’s perception of women
b. Comments on the bodies on the wall
Conclusion
Oh. I copied this a while ago. xD
Thesis: In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood employs irony, satire, and exaggeration to address feminist issues, critique totalitarian regimes, and warn against processes by which totalitarian regimes come to power and gain influence as well as the complacency of the masses that permit these regimes to exist.
Introduction
I. Setting
A. Historical Basis for Setting
1. Totalitarian examples
a. Policies pulled from theocracies worldwide
b. Application of these policies
2. Irony in allusions
a. Juxtaposition of Ceausescu and One Child Policy
b. Parodies of the domestic women and Biblical Gilead
B. Physical Setting of Gilead
1. Environmental pollution
a. Environmental pollution causes infertility
b. Sons of Jacob retain power through dehumanization
2. Repressive theocracy
a. Offred’s initial flight from Gilead
b. Danger of slipping toward extremism
II. Characters
A. Employment of Characters
1. Peiexoto
a. Characterized by Sexist Nature
b. Minimizes Offred’s authority
2. Pieixoto perpetuates the Issues Within Gilead
a. Continues the erasure of Offred from memory
b. Reflects irony of his lack of empathy for his study
B. Archetypes
1. Offred as the Unfaithful Wife
a. Adulteress before and during Gileadean period
b. Imagery of the cave used to bring emotion into the work
2. Identity
a. Forced anonymity for women underlines the dehumanizing aspects of Gilead
b. Reinforced with the bodies of Salvaging victims
III. Diction/Tone
A. Irony in Diction
1. Employment of puns
a. Title of the novel serves as a pun
b. This pun increases the irony of the novel
2. Study of language
a. Puns become a compulsive habit for Offred
b. Irony of the Soul Scrolls
B. Emotionless diction
1. Case Study in the Beginning of Section 30
a. Analysis of colloquial sayings
b. Use of Complex sentences show that thinking cannot be stamped out
2. Thoughts to begin each section
a. Illustrates how complex simple realities are
b. Undermines Gileadean authority by thinking
IV. Point of View
A. Offred’s view influences perception of Gilead
1. Attention to detail
a. Oppression as the lens through which Gilead is seen
b. Episodic nature of the plot forces readers to notice the details
2. Enhances Reader’s Perception of Gilead
a. Scenes would be unrealistic if related by a man
b. First person present tense creates sense of urgency
B. Peiexoto provides context for the narrative
1. Change to male perspective
a. Change in verb tense with change in narrator
b. Asserts himself as ultimate authority over Offred’s narration
2. “Historical Notes” as a Satire of Academia
a. Pieixoto’s pro-Gilead perspective weakens Offred’s position in the novel
b. Satire of modern academics
V. Narrative Structure
A. Discontinuous nature lends itself to the tone
1. Transcription of tapes
a. Pieixoto’s ordering of the events undermines the authority of Offred’s story
b. Atwood bases the order of events on emotional appeal of scenes
2. Employment of changing flashbacks
a. Use of flashbacks to increase the episodic nature of the plot
b. Pieixoto’s delineation of events removes Offred’s credibility as a narrator
B. Contrast between Epigraphs and historical notes
1. “A Modest Proposal”
a. Introduces the satire of the work
b. Atwood targets practicality with her satire
2. Sufi Proverb
a. Strengthens Atwood’s argument by countering the irony in “A Modest Proposal”
b. Argues against social regulation
VI. Style
A. Builds on the dystopian tradition
1. Feminist Slant
a. Does not follow traditional formula for writing dystopia
b. Primary difference is the use of a female narrator dealing with feminist issues
2. Ironic Satire
a. Christian Fundamentalism targeted by Atwood’s satire
b. Blame for Gilead placed with complacent people as well as extremists
B. Symbolism of the body
1. Use as currency
a. Use as a Bribe for Guardians in the Red Center
b. Inequality shown through the mass marriage ceremony
2. Dismemberment
a. Exemplifies the irony in Gilead’s perception of women
b. Comments on the bodies on the wall
Conclusion
Oh. I copied this a while ago. xD
Userbar will be in Visitor TT2 BRK)
