Can a handmaid become a wife?

“They might actually become Wives if they stay on a track of loyalty.” The youngest members of Gilead, such as June's daughter, will eventually become Econowives or Wives, so long as they remain fertile and faithful. They'll be married off to working-class men at the young age of 14 or 15.

Can you marry a handmaid?

Being a Wife is regarded as a high honor in Gilead. Only women perceived as being 'pure' and moral are given the 'privilege' of marrying. (Handmaids, for example, could never be Wives, due to their controversial nature).

Can a handmaid become an aunt?

Later Gilead periods

Upon acceptance, they go through a six-month probationary period, after which they become Supplicants and officially take on an Aunt name.

Why are all the Wives infertile in Handmaid's Tale?

In the story, an environmental disaster has led to most women becoming infertile, and the small number who are still able to become pregnant are forced to become handmaids, women who are owned by the ruling elite and systematically raped in order to provide them with children.

Why is June a handmaid and not a wife?

Selection and Classification

June, for instance, relates that she was forced to become a handmaid because Gilead outlawed divorce and invalidated any marriages in which one of the partners was divorced; she was thus deemed to be an adulteress because her husband, Luke, divorced his first wife to marry her.

Can a handmaid become a wife?

How are Handmaid's chosen?

Based off of Margaret Atwood's 1985 dystopian novel, women become handmaids in The Handmaid's Tale because it's the law and not of their own volition. In the future that Atwood created, women are less than second-class citizens and the government classifies them by what they can provide to men.

Does JUNE love Luke or Nick?

Following the season finale, Moss was interviewed by ELLE. In the interview, Moss made it clear that June is in love with Nick, her Gilead lover, over Luke, her husband.

Is the handmaids tale a true story?

The Handmaid's Tale is NOT based on a true story. The drama is science fiction, set in a dystopian future where a totalitarian regime has overthrown the US government and created the Republic of Gilead. But the show, based on Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel of the same name, is inspired by religious and political history.

Why do the Wives wear green?

Crabtree said that the brownish green of the aunts' clothes is meant to convey a militaristic degree of authority, calling back to the military uniforms of World War I, while the dull, pale green of the Marthas is meant to evoke a sense that these women are "wither[ing] into their environment."

What year is The Handmaid's Tale set in?

Setting. The novel is set in an indeterminate dystopian future, speculated to be around the year 2005, with a fundamentalist theonomy ruling the territory of what had been the United States but is now the Republic of Gilead.

Why do Handmaids wear red?

The color red indicates the Handmaids' fertility, echoing the color of menstrual blood. The Wives, by contrast, dress in blue, the color associated with the Virgin Mary.

What is a gender traitor in Handmaids Tale?

In Gilead, a 'gender traitor' is anyone who departs in any way from the strict definitions of sex and sexuality. Such people were hanged or worked to death, in this terrifying dystopia.

Why is June a handmaid?

June Osborne, formerly referred to by her patronym Offred #2 and later Ofjoseph #4, is the main protagonist of The Handmaid's Tale (TV series). She is a woman in her 30s who was forced to serve as a Handmaid in the early years of Gilead, due to the fact she is still capable of bearing children.

What happens if a handmaid gets pregnant?

In Gilead's eyes, fallen women who become Handmaids are seen as forgiven by God if they become pregnant and give birth. Failing to get pregnant (even though it's likely their Commander's fault) means God didn't deem her worthy of redemption. So she's punished.

What are Wives called in Handmaid's Tale?

The Handmaids

Various environmental crises have left much of the population sterile, so these women occupy a special place in society, and their fertility makes them both special and uniquely degraded.

Why do handmaids wear wings?

They're meant to act essentially like blinders would on a horse, it's supposed to shield the handmaids from view and prevent them from seeing what's around them as well.

What is an Unbaby?

Unbaby, or shredder, is the term used in the Republic of Gilead to describe infants that are suffering from birth defects or physical deformities. These die shortly after birth due to their defects. They are usually taken away to be disposed of.

Why do they say under his eye?

“Under His eye”: How Handmaids formally say goodbye to each other in person. By extension, the phrase suggests that someone—a Guardian, a Commander, a fellow Handmaid, God—is always watching.

Why are the handmaids mouths wired shut?

The handmaids take "a vow of silence that's enforced by a physical ring on the mouth," Miller says. The image of women in red handmaid's uniforms unable to speak serves as a harsh reminder of the extent to which whatever is left of June's rights can still be stripped.

Are handmaids in the Bible?

Depictions in Abrahamic texts

In the King James translation of the Hebrew Bible, the term handmaid is applied to a female servant who serves her mistress, as in the case of Hagar being described as Sarai's handmaid, Zilpah being Leah's handmaid and Bilhah as Rachel's handmaid.

What religion is Handmaid's Tale based on?

The rise of the Christian right in "The Handmaid's Tale" draws from American history. To depict the authoritative world run by the extremely religious right in "The Handmaid's Tale," Atwood drew upon history — mainly, 17th-century Puritan theocracy in America and the political climate of the country in the early 1980s.

Does Gilead exist today?

Gilead, area of ancient Palestine east of the Jordan River, corresponding to modern northwestern Jordan. The region is bounded in the north by the Yarmūk River and in the southwest by what were known in ancient times as the “plains of Moab”; to the east there is no definite boundary.

What happens to Nick and June's baby?

June fell pregnant with Nick's child, Nichole, and he did his best to help her get out of Gilead. The pair have been separated as Nick was made a Commander and sent to the front line in Chicago while June was on the run after helping a number of children and Marthas get to Canada.

How does Serena get pregnant?

In Gilead, Commander Fred Waterford and his wife Serena Joy had June as their Handmaid. As a Handmaid, it was one of June's duties to conceive for a seemingly infertile Serena.

Will June get Hannah back?

And Hannah has been separated from her true family since the series' very beginning. This piece of the plot has driven a great deal of June's relentless will to persevere against the most harrowing odds. But, unfortunately, even with all that's happened, it's still pretty unlikely that June will ever get Hannah back.