Religion In The Handmaid's Tale

Register to read the introduction… Gilead’s society was founded on the ideas featured in the Bible, and on the idea of Christianity's God being the one true religious being. The name “Gilead” itself is a reference to the Bible, named after a fertile land in Palestine. This meant that there was absence of any separation between Church and State; which in turn created the social system that established Gilead. The founders worked to create a social structure using biblical terms, that would organize the new society and allow it to remain stable. …show more content…
“Wives” were defined as the highest rank a women could take in the population, they were the wives of the male officials and spent their lives living at home. The “Marthas” were the workers of the household and the name is a reference to the bible character who cared for Jesus. “Handmaids” were the women whose sole job was to provide a fertile womb for those wives who could not provide offspring for their husbands. The name is also associated with the Bible, as part of the Old Testament concerning Rachel and Jacob. The last would be the” Eco-Wives” and the “Un-Women.” “Eco-Wives” are the working women of Gilead and “Un-Women” are the women who serve no purpose and are exiled from society. There are many other references as well, (Guardian’s of the Faith, etc.) This shows how religion became the backbone of Gilead. Without the structure provided by the entire population dedicating themselves to the belief in one God, the framework would crumble. True believers, as described in the book, are what permits the culture to even exist; without them there would likely be a rebellion much larger than the current