In basic terms, the society is male dominated, and women are slaves to this. Even a Wife, the highest ranking woman in Gilead, is defined in relation to a man, her husband, and the handmaid's are defined as property of the Commander, shown by their patronymics, “Offred”. Words such as Commander, Guardian, and Angel name men's varying ranks of power, but the words themselves do not reduce individual men to their sex alone.

The society’s foundations are based upon the religion “Puritanism”, and whilst Gilead is a futuristic society it is deeply rooted in the past; “It’s only the more recent history that offends them”.

Although the Commander part way through the novel appears to be giving Offred some freedom, for example letting her read magazines and play Scrabble, he is in actual fact repressing her further - how much does she owe for this small bit of freedom? He takes her to “Jezebel’s”, a nightclub. This government run brothel is another means by which the elite male sector uses women in Gilead. There, we experience the juxtaposition of the Handmaid (Offred) used for procreation and the Prostitutes used purely for sex. This portrays a society that no matter what you choose, you are ultimately a slave to men. This is taken further when the Commander “thought [they] could jump the gun”. He attempts “old fashioned sex”, where Offred comments, “I can’t afford pride or aversion, there are all kinds of things that have to be discarded, under the circumstances”, showing that even in supposed enjoyment, Offred is under pressure to behave a certain way.

In conclusion, although it seems women have the immediate control over other women, it is men who essentially control society. Offred describes her society as one without love, “old love, there is no other kind of love in this room now.” Therefore all women complete some form of service to men whether it is in the form of Wife or Handmaid and any power the Wives/Aunts possess are given by men. In this respect, man is the hypocritical tyrant - he has used his own closest relationship (marriage) to divide the sexes and rule over them as “The Eyes of the Lord”.

Some topics in this essay:
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