This article contains mentions of sexual violence.
The Handmaid’s Talehas many different types of women living in the dystopian theonomic society of Gilead, and it can be a lot to keep track of. The series follows June Osborne (Elizabeth Moss) as she first navigates, then escapes, Gilead. In the final season, she works to bring about its downfall. Based on the 1984 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood,The Handmaid’s Talehas adapted June’s story so that it is all the more relevant to the present day.
June began as the enslaved Handmaid to Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) and his Wife Serena (Yvonne Strahovski). Over time, however, June has encounters with Jezebels, dresses as an Econowife to escape, andfaces down Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd).June’s story reveals just how prescribed the role of every woman in Gilead is, and that even the highest-powered women in Gilead are still trapped. And the limited roles of women in Gilead are what reveal the true depths of the misogynistic power structure.
1Wives
Women At The Top With No Real Power
Wives are the highest-ranking women in Gilead and command a degree of respect no other womencan access. They are marked by their blue uniforms, meant to symbolically connect them to the Virgin Mary. Like all women in Gilead, Wives are defined by their relationships to men. In this case,a woman is only a Wife if she is married to a high-ranking man in Gilead,such as an Eye or a Commander. Because of this proximity to powerful men, Wives have a certain degree of power.
Wives can issue limited commands to Aunts and Guardians, and some Wives, like Serena, were instrumental in bringing Gilead into being. Nevertheless,all Wives are fundamentally shut out of Gilead’s government, and the women raised to be Wives are not even taught to read.Before Gilead, Serena was an author and an activist; in Gilead, she is not allowed to participate in the society she helped to create. Wives demonstrate that no matter how much a misogynistic movement claims to value women, it will always ultimately oppress them.
2Widows
The Bleak Future Of All Wives In Gilead
Widows find themselves in a particularly vulnerable place in Gilead society.Widows are Wives whose husbands have died.Serena is the most prominent Widow inThe Handmaid’s Taleafter her husband, Fred Waterford, dies in season 4, but Serena is far from a standard Wife or Widow in Gilead. Olivia Winslow (Elizabeth Reaser) might have been a prominent Widow, but, since her husband cannot be acknowledged as dead, she cannot be acknowledged as a Widow.
Gilead is fundamentally unwilling to let women exist beyond their men.
As a result of all this secrecy around Widows, not a lot is known about the lives of Widowsbeyond their all-black clothing, which signifies perpetual mourning. However, the narration of Margaret Atwood’s novel does offer some clues. In the novel,Offred speculates that Widows may be killedsince they are no longer useful to Gilead society.
3Aunts
They Win Power For Themselves By Oppressing Others
Despite the highly respected position of Wives in Gilead,Aunts are arguably the most powerful women inThe Handmaid’s Tale.Aunts wear a brown uniform, and oversee Handmaids, Daughters, and Unwomen. Out of necessity, Aunts are the only women in Gilead who are allowed to read and write.
Aunts have more power and more responsibility than any other women in Gilead, but that power is totally contingent on their willingness to subjugate other women. At the Rachel and Leah Center,Aunts menace women with cattle prods and violence until they submit to Gilead’s regime.Aunt Lydia is one of the most horrifying antagonists that June faces inThe Handmaid’s Tale, and she is directly responsible for enslaving fertile women and turning them into Handmaids.
4Handmaids
Sinful Women Valued For Their Fertility
Handmaids are the most famous class of women in Gilead, and their iconic red dresses with white bonnets are an immediately recognizable symbol of oppression.Handmaids are fertile women whose “sinful” status makes them unable to be Wives.In June’s case, for example, the fact that her husband before Gilead was a divorcee made her an adulteress under Gilead’s laws. Handmaids are sexual slaves inThe Handmaid’s Tale, used by important men and their wives to bear children.
Both the title “Handmaid” and the ceremony in which Handmaids are raped are references to the Biblical story of Abraham, his wife Sarah, and her handmaid Hagar, as told in Genesis 16-21.
Handmaids have no control over their lives, their bodies, or the children they are forced to bear.The only time when Handmaids have a slightly elevated status is when they are pregnant, but are otherwise interchangeable commodities.
Domestic Servants In Gilead
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Marthas are a cross between Handmaids and Aunts inThe Handmaid’s Tale.Like Handmaids, Marthas have no power and are treated like chattel. Like Aunts, Marthas are infertile and are not considered sinful by Gilead society. Before Gilead, Marthas would have been women with useful skills, like cooking, who were not deemed too impure to live under the new regime.
Marthas are domestic servants who dress in grey or green outfits to mark their lower status. They take care of domestic duties, like cooking, cleaning, and housework. If the family they serve has children, Marthas may serve as nannies. However, Marthas' low status does have one distinct advantage:Marthas are so lowly that they are functionally invisible in Gilead.For this reason, whenever Handmaids like June try to move in secret to escape Gilead, they tend to do so disguised as Mathas.
6Daughters
Little Girls Raised Into Gilead
Daughters are the future of Gilead society and are the first generation raised within the regime. But the class “Daughter” does not refer to just any girl-child in Gilead; only the daughters of high-ranking men, like Commanders, are officially Daughters inThe Handmaid’s Tale.Daughters are raised to believe in the goodness of Gilead’s authoritarian regime and to become wives, and the skills that they are taught reflect that. Daughters learn to crochet and to embroider, but they do not learn to read.
June had a daughter before Gilead named Hannah, but when Gilead came into power she was taken away by the state and renamed Agnes MacKenzie (Jordana Blake).
As young girls, Daughters wear light pink garments, but as they age, Daughters are expected to wear purple garments. This signifies that a Daughter is approaching marriageable age, either marked by turning 12 or reaching menarche, at which time they are colloquially called “plums.” Plums attend Premarital Preparatory Classes taught by Aunts as the final stage before becoming a wife.
7Econowives
Wives For Men Who Can’t Afford Wives
As Wives are the spouses of high-ranking men in Gilead,Econowives are the spouses of low-ranking men in Gilead.Econowives are a subset of Econopeople, the entire poor underclass of Gilead that are nevertheless allowed to take part in society to a certain extent. Because their husbands are low-ranked men, Econowives are expected to perform the duties of Wives, Marthas, and Handmaids simultaneously.
In Margaret Atwood’s novel, this multifaceted role is reflected by having Econowives wear grey garments striped with blue, green, and red,whereas in the television series Econowives simply wear drab, grey clothing. But, if an Econowife’s husband becomes a Commander, then she would be transformed from an Econowife to a full Wife. The most famous Econowife inThe Handmaid’s Talewas Eden Blaine, played bySydney Sweeneyin season 2. Sweeney’s character shows that even a true believer like Eden has no real chance at happiness in Gilead.
8Jezebels
Jezebels are prostitutes inThe Handmaid’s Tale, and, unlike every other class of woman in Gilead, they do not have a defined uniform.Jezebels are women who are temperamentally unable to fit into Gilead’s rigid social structure and choose to become prostitutes rather than be sent to the colonies.And, within the walls of their brothels, called Jezebel’s, Jezebels have a surprising amount of freedom. They are allowed to read, drink alcohol, wear makeup, and do not have to conform to the rigid moral code of Gilead.
Like “Handmaid,” the title “Jezebel” is a reference to the Bible. Jezebel is a queen in 1 Kings, and the sexually immoral Jezebel is mentioned again in Revelation.
Further setting them apart from other women inThe Handmaid’s Tale, Jezebels are all sterilized. On top of the inherent sexual violence that comes with Jezebels' role in Gilead, Jezebel’s are all rigidly controlled by the Aunts, and, whenever a given Jezebel gets too old or unattractive, they are unceremoniously disposed of. Nevertheless,June’s best friend Moira Strand (Samira Wiley)shows thatthe short, violent life of the Jezebel is preferable to some women when compared with the sexual servitude that comes with becoming a Handmaid.
9Unwomen
Whereas Handmaids are sinful women inThe Handmaid’s Talewho are still fertile,Unwomen are either infertile sinful women, or fertile women who are so irredeemably sinful that there is no place left for them in Gilead.Unwomen live in the Colonies, where they spend their lives farming, cleaning up toxic waste, or doing other forms of manual labor. Most Unwomen die quickly of either radiation poisoning or starvation.
What matters most about Unwomen is what they reveal about the status of all women in Gilead. There are no women who cannot become Unwomen. From a Wife who becomes a Widow only to disappear, to an older Jezebel or Handmaid, every single woman inThe Handmaid’s Taleis, ultimately, disposable.
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The Handmaid’s Tale is a television adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel, released in 2017. It is set in a dystopian future where a woman is compelled to live as a concubine under a strict fundamentalist theocracy.
