Canadian writer Margaret Atwood was born to parents Carl Edmund and Margaret Dorothy Atwood. A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Atwood completed her undergraduate education at the University of Toronto in 1961. One year later, she received her A.M. from Radcliffe College. Upon completion of her Master’s degree, Atwood completed one year of graduate work at Harvard University. Later, from 1965-1967, Atwood returned to Harvard for another two years of graduate study. Atwood later married writer Graeme Gibson with whom she had a daughter, Jess.. Aside from her career as a writer of poetry, novels, short stories and essays, Atwood also held various positions as a lecturer and professor at both Canadian and American universities.

Her work has received critical acclaim in not only Canada, but the United States and Europe as well. Popular with both critics and readers, Atwood has received numerous awards for her work. Although she was first recognized for her poetry, Atwood is most well known for her feminist views illustrated in her novels, her strongest feminist work being The Handmaid’s Tale (1983). In addition to The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood is also well known for her other novels The Edible Woman (1970) and Alias Grace (1996).

Atwood resides in Toronto with her husband.

The Handmaid’s Tale tells the story of Offred, a young girl living in a dystopian world set in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The democratic system has been taken over by a group of radical Christian leaders who have changed society to not only put all women in a position of complete subjugation, but to create an entirely new system of classes. Offred is a Handmaid, the class of fertile women whose responsibility is to bear children for the Wives, who hold the highest female rank and are married to the Commanders, the military rulers. The Handmaid’s Tale explores the different classes of women and the social struggles of this new dystopian world.

1. How do the colors of the different classes reflect their responsibilities, purpose, etc.?

2. Is Offred freed at the conclusion of the novel? Is she taken away by the authorities of Gilead?

3. There are many biblical references in the novel, pick a few and discuss.

4. What was Atwood’s purpose for writing the novel? Was it about feminism; was it a warning against the dangers of society?

5. Why is Rita always rude to Offred? Is it because she is jealous of Offred’s higher position, does she resent Offred’s youth and fertility?

6. What actions have the Republic of Gilead taken to suppress female sexuality?

7. Should Offred have accepted the doctor’s offer impregnate her, thereby securing her place as a Handmaid? Were his intentions just?

8. Why did the Aunts impose the belief that being raped was the fault of the woman?

9. What was Offred’s life like before the Republic took over?

10. What is the irony of the club where the Commander takes Offred one night?