[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-623178-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-623178-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","elements-of-political-and-social-protest-writing-the-handmaids-tale-overview","Elements of political and social protest writing - The Handmaid's Tale - Overview","","This resource explains how The Handmaid’s Tale can be read through the genre of political and social protest writing, offering teachers an introductory framework for planning discussion and analysis. It links the novel’s central concerns to the overthrow of democracy in the USA and the rise of totalitarian religious control, while highlighting Atwood’s attention to restrictive ideologies across different historical contexts. It outlines themes of religious extremism, women’s rights, personal freedom, morality, government control and surveillance, and situates the dystopian setting through comparisons to other protest narratives.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/","Exam",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/elements-of-political-and-social-protest-writing-the-handmaids-tale-overview/623178/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/elements-of-political-and-social-protest-writing-the-handmaids-tale-overview/623178.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"mieayamfan","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-06","2026-10-20",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",10,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why is The Handmaid’s Tale connected to political and social protest writing in this resource?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The resource emphasizes the novel’s political concerns, showing how democracy is replaced by the totalitarian Republic of Gilead and how religious ideology is used to control society. It frames the text as a vehicle for protest against oppression, especially affecting women.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What historical and ideological influences does the resource mention behind the novel?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It states that the novel was partly written in response to the rise of Christian fundamentalism and growing right-wing views in the USA during the 1980s. It also references global restrictive political and religious ideologies, including coercive practices in the Eastern Bloc and the suppression of women in Iran.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does the resource describe power and control in Gilead?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"It explains that Gilead controls citizens through fear and violence, using a strict segregated structure with severe punishment for disobedience. It also describes ritual executions and constant visual reminders of punishment, alongside tightly controlled gender roles and restricted communication for women.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},623178,1792525569,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,95,100,105,110,115,120,123,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":122},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":55,"slug":125},"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":33,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":96,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},962090893677,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","Elements of political and social protest writing: Text overview-The Handmaid's Tale  \nThis resource is an explanation of some of the ways The Handmaid’s Tale can be considered in relation to the genre of political and social protest writing. This is a starting point for teachers in their thinking and planning, it gives an introductory overview of how the text can be considered through the lens of political and social protest writing. We haven’t covered every element of this genre. We hope that it will provide a useful starting point and a springboard for thinking about the text in more detail.  \nOverview  \nGiven the central political concerns of the text (democracy in the USA has been brutally overthrown and replaced by the totalitarian Republic of Gilead), it should be clear why The Handmaid’s Tale has been included as it looks at elements of political and social protest writing. The novel was partly written in response to the rise in Christian fundamentalism and the growing right-wing views held in the USA in the 1980s. During this period there was a fear amongst liberal thinkers about the potential repressive treatment of women if the parties that represented these conservative views were to come to power.  \nIt is also important to remember that Atwood was very mindful of restrictive political and religious ideologies across the world and some of her observations are incorporated into the novel, for example the coercive practices of those in power in the Eastern Bloc countries before the fall of the Berlin wall and the ascendancy of the Ayatollahs in Iran who sought to suppress women. Although the USA under Obama is not the same as the USA under Reagan, there are still many in the West who hold extreme right wing values and the political instability across the Middle East can hardly make readers feel more secure in regard to the treatment of the powerless by the powerful. As a consequence, the issues raised in the novel still resonate today.  \nIn a world in which a Pakistani school girl can be shot for wanting an education, where the rights of women in some countries have been completely eroded by the religious laws under which they live, where the right to freedom of speech has come under an intense spotlight and where issues surrounding a government’s right to gain access to and control the private lives of its citizens are current and potent, then the study of this text should lead to interesting and thought-provoking debates concerning the contexts of production and reception.  \nUltimately the text concerns itself with the consequences of religious extremism and fanaticism, particularly in relation to the rights of women, but it also explores many other issues to do with personal freedom, morality, government control and Orwellian surveillance. The Handmaid’s Tale is a chilling vision of a world in which the state regulates sexual relations, condones male violence against women, suppresses female sexuality and leaves no place for human love.  \nGenre and setting  \nThe Handmaid’s Tale is clearly identifiable as dystopian fiction, with obvious links to other dystopian texts such as 1984 and Brave New World. It is perhaps worth comparing it to these and to more recent publications, such as The Hunger Games, in terms of political and social protest writing. The Handmaid’s Tale is set in a futuristic world where an ultra-conservative Christian movement has seized control in what is now the USA and has imposed on the population a totalitarian regime based on its version of some aspects of the Old Testament. The use and abuse of religious texts for political ends is a key element of the genre. Central to the regime is the adoption of the Old Testament’s representation of women, finding in it justification for the legitimising of handmaids in those marriages where women are unable to conceive.  \nAtwood sets her story in a world, so much like our own, where mismanagement of the planet, industrialisation, the over use of chemicals","cbCaik2wnbOfUSPl","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaik2wnbOfUSPl","pdf",158755,"English","# Overview\n## Power and control\n## Genre and setting","[{\"question\":\"Why is The Handmaid’s Tale connected to political and social protest writing in this resource?\",\"answer\":\"The resource emphasizes the novel’s political concerns, showing how democracy is replaced by the totalitarian Republic of Gilead and how religious ideology is used to control society. It frames the text as a vehicle for protest against oppression, especially affecting women.\"},{\"question\":\"What historical and ideological influences does the resource mention behind the novel?\",\"answer\":\"It states that the novel was partly written in response to the rise of Christian fundamentalism and growing right-wing views in the USA during the 1980s. It also references global restrictive political and religious ideologies, including coercive practices in the Eastern Bloc and the suppression of women in Iran.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the resource describe power and control in Gilead?\",\"answer\":\"It explains that Gilead controls citizens through fear and violence, using a strict segregated structure with severe punishment for disobedience. It also describes ritual executions and constant visual reminders of punishment, alongside tightly controlled gender roles and restricted communication for women.\"}]","Elements of political and social protest writing - The Handmaid's Tale - Overview | PDF",1792467870,13]