Compare the significance of barriers between people in The Handmaid's Tale and
Feminine Gospels (25/25 in 2023 A-level exam)
Examiners comment: Assured, perceptive, confident. Outstanding KU of texts & contexts.
Perceptive, detailed methods work. UB5.
In Atwood's dystopian novel, The Handmaid's Tale, and Duffy's collection 'The Feminine
Gospels', it is clear that the state, and in turn societal values, place barriers between people.
Although they can be partially overcome, ultimately the state and society's barriers between
people are more successful - keeping people apart and disunited. This is especially
amplified by the shared setting between the texts of patriarchal society and the use of female
first person narration - as it seems more inevitable that women will not be able to break
barriers between them in the way that men are allowed.
The state, and in turn societal views, is presented as a signifcant barrier between people.
However, this can be seen to be often undermined as Atwood highlights through Offred and
the Commander who as the novel progresses blur the enforced barrier between them. This
is somewhat similar to Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 where critics have said that love is the
only subversive force agains the barriers the totalitarian state Big Brother creates. At the
start of the novel, Gilead creates a much stronger barrier between the two of them. Atwood
clearly highlights this during The Ceremony. She uses emotionless language to convey the
act as something mechanical: For example, the asyndetic triplet of 'withdraws, recedes,
rezippers' conveys the emotionless nature of Offred and the Commander's sex as enforced
by the state. This is further emphasised by Offred describing it as 'fucking', with the fricative
nature of this word implying how there is no love and 'arousal and orgasm are no longer
thought necessary'. However, despite Offred clearly enjoying transgressive sex - as
illustrated by her relationship with Luke, a married man, and illegally with Nick in Gilead -
Atwood uses the Commander as breaking the barrier society and the state have imposed
between them. She physically reflects this through how the Commander seeks Offred out
first, entering her bedroom. Offred's repetitive questioning of 'Was he invading? Was he
entering my room?' and the hyperbolic word choice of 'invading' how the seemingly trivial act
of him entering her room in fact is a microcosm for a larger act of breaking the barriers
imposed by the state between them - engaging in an illegal relationship with her and
ironically allowing her more autonomy. Arguably her feelings are heightened further as in
their patriarchal totalitarian society, if she did the same there would be terrible consequences
as she is a woman. Consequently, as the text progresses it is clear that on the surface it
seems Offred has an 'equivocal kind [of power]' over the Commander, as in Jezebels 'he
was waiting for me', seeks her ought to 'kiss me... like you mean it', and in a ceremony
Atwood uses imagery of him reaching out to touch her face. Here she responds with a sharp
imperative command of 'don't do that again', the type of commands the Commander would
use - suggesting there has been a shift of power, and Offred and Commander have
successfully partially blurred the barrier between them as Gilead did not want women to
have any power. However, ultimately this is unsucessful as it is undeniably clear that the
Commander still holds the real power between them - personifying the power of the state
and the clear boundaries that remain in place.
Similarly, Duffy highlights this idea of women breaking down the barrier of sociey and the
state between them in 'White Writing' - which follows a lesbian relationship, likely
semi-autobiographical about Duffy's own relationship with Jackie Kay - although to a greater
extent than Offred and the Commander as they do this from the outset of the poem. The
state and homophobic societal views are structurally clear through Duffy's form of six regular
length quatrains and the caesuras or end stopped lines in alomst every line. This creates a
physical barrier between the two women, emphasising just how hard it is for them to even be
in a relationship. Duffy continues this further through employing repetition at the start of each
stanza of what the state imposes on their relationship to create a barrier between them. For
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