The Handmaid's Tale

Essay question: Compare and contrast the ways Atwood in "The Handmaid's Tale" and Chaucer in "The Wife of Bath" explore status in society.

Introduction:
Status in society is explored in the books, The Handmaid's Tale and The Wife of Bath. In the Handmaid's Tale, Atwood explores status in society through language which shows subjugation of women, colour coding (clothing), role, name of characters, the past and present life of Offred. In the Wife of Bath, status is explored in the Prologue through the wife's control over marriage. The Tale which presents the status of women through the queen's orders and the Witches commands. I will be exploring the different ways Atwood and Chaucer explore status in society.

Main Body:

1. In the Handmaid's Tale, the status of women and men are explored through their roles in society. This can be seen in character of Offred (who is a Handmaid) used for the bearing of children when Offred says, "I am a walking womb." The use of women in society in the section about Salvaging when the Handmaid's are told to pull the rope to kill the Handmaid accused of "cheating". "I've leaned forward to touch the rope in front of me, in time with the others... placed my hand on my heart to show my unity with the salvagers and my consent..."
2. Although women such as the Handmaid's are used for the bearing of children, there are other women who have different roles and status in society. Women such as the Commander's Wife called Serena Joy has a higher status comapred to the Handmaid's. The different status between these two categories can be seen in the actions and attidues of the Wife to the Offred. When Offred first meets the Commander's wife and she describes her attitude, "She dosen't speak to me, unless she can't avoid it. I am a reproach to her; and a necessity."
3. Despite the status of the Wife in the Handmaid's Tale, the status of women in the fouteenth century and the views on women are shown by Chaucer through the Wife either contridictory or corresponding to the Wifes Prologue and Tale. A corresponding quote for the views on women in the fourteenth century about women being troublesome is when the Wife describes herself as, "Stiborn I was as is a leonasse."
4. Depending on the views on women in Chaucer's era, the wealth of the woman would be passed onto the man once they are married. A quotation from the Wife portrays that women's wealth is passed onto the husband, when the Wife says, "Hath wedded me with greet so lempritee, And to him yaf i al the lond and fee."
5. In the Handmaid's Tale society, women are dominated by men,the Commander is a man, who commands everyone below his status (the Handmaid's, the Aunts and their Wife). The society of the book is based on patriarchal society and this can be seen through the power men have as a Commander. This can be seen when Offred describes the Commander when she says, "The Commander has a room key. He shows it to me, slyly. I am to understand."
6. Whereas, in the Wife of Bath's Tale, women are shown to be in control of and have power over men. This can be seen in the Tale when the Wife says, "And yat him to the queene, al at hir wille, To chase wheither she wolde him save or spille." The queen's commandes to the Knight which shows her status when she says, " I grante thee lyf if thou thanst tellen me what thing is it that women most desiren."
7. In the Handmaid's Tale, the Handmaid's are used to ear children and are colour coded like the others, the colour they have to wear is red. Therefore Offred decribes herself as, "the colour of blood, which defines us."

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I believe that in both "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Wife of Bath", the topic status has been explored in many ways. In the Handmaid's Tale through hierachy and colour coding. In the Wife of Bath, through Prologue and Tale describing the status of women through the queen status and the Wife's life.