The Handmaid's Tale for A Level English Literature
A detailed and helpful resource supporting an in-depth understanding of The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.
The resource contains a series of focused activities, guiding A-level English Literature students through the novel, helping them to develop a critical understanding of key characters, themes, methods and authorial techniques.
Browse additional resources in The Handmaid's Tale section.
A sample extract from the resource:
Background to the novel
Atwood has said The Handmaid's Tale is speculative fiction i.e., what would happen if the series of events lead to the world where the book starts.
- Discuss in groups whether you think any of the events that make up the history at the beginning of the novel could happen.
We don't know what the future holds - what extreme situations could develop from our current society?
Understanding social hierarchy
To understand why the events develop as they do, it is important to understand the strict social hierarchy in The Handmaid’s Tale. Much of the focus is on the relationship between the Commanders and the Handmaid, but there are many more roles i.e. Wives, Marthas, Eyes, Unwomen, Angels, Aunts, Guardians and Economies.
- Represent the social hierarchy in The Handmaid's Tale in a diagram (with the most powerful at the top).
- The Commander tells Offred, “Better never means better for everyone . . . it always means worse, for some.” Is this justification for his actions or is it always true?
Who is free in The Handmaid's Tale? What freedoms does Offred have?
