Religious Fundamentalism in Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale'

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,7, RWTH Aachen University (Institut für Anglistik), course: Utopian and Dystopian Novels, SS 2008, language: English, abstract: Margaret Atwood needs no longer an introduction in the common sense, because she is one of the most popular and productive writers in the world. Her works, especially her novels are taught at many universities worldwide. Her books are bestsellers and subjects of critical reviews and academical studies. Margaret Atwood wrote her novel The Handmaid's Tale in a time when religious fundamentalism had already been established in the United States. Through this historical background and her own experience with religious fundamentalism and the rising of feminism, it is not surprising that her novels also deal with such a thematic aspects. Moreover, Atwood copies her own experiences and imaginations of religious fundamentalism into the fictive and futuristic world of Gilead.