Power Analysis in The Handmaid’s Tale

Abstract

The Handmaid’s Tale is one of Margaret Atwood’s most popular novels. As a dystopian novel, it describes an absurd society in the future and explores themes of subjugated women in a patriarchal society and the various means by which these women resist and attempt to gain independence. By applying Michael Foucault’s power theory, this paper analyzes the power situations in Gilead, revealing the relationship between power and body, also aims to analyze the relation between female characters’ status and power in the novel to reveal the cruelty of the totalitarian government and patriarchal society.