ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the television series The Handmaid’s Tale, based on Margaret Atwood’s eponymous novel, and starring Elisabeth Moss as the Handmaid Offred. The Handmaid’s Tale is a central text of Feminist New Wave Cinema which exposes the terror at the heart of extremist patriarchal societies. The chapter explores the way the series transforms the biblical image of the acquiescent Handmaid into a feminist warrior—the monstrous-feminine of Gilead—whose image assumes heroic and mythic proportions as the series progress. Drawing on Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection, it also investigates the neglected topic of the abject nature of violent men—the shameless rapist, murderer, and hypocrite. A major reason for the series’ success is the creation of a new feminist heroine in the figure of Offred whose mythologisation appears to have resonated with woman the world over, bringing female demonstrators wearing the Handmaid’s signature red gown out at rallies to protect women’s reproductive rights. This chapter also compares the earlier film, The Handmaid’s Tale (1990) with the television series in relation to the importance of woman’s voice and the necessity of revolt—central features of Feminist New Wave Cinema.
