How do Margaret Atwood and Nathaniel Hawthorne, in The Handmaid’s Tale and Scarlet Letter respectively present ideas about
love and relationships.
The Scarlet Letter and The Handmaid’s Tale both present ideas about the relationships between a mother and her child, Hester and
Pearl and Offred and her child, and the relationships between men and women, as both novels follow their female leads in fighting
oppression and explore the patriarchy and misogyny present in both societies.
The Handmaid’s Tale, a 1985 dystopian novel written by Margaret Atwood, concerning a totalitarian government in which patriarchy
and Christian beliefs are more prevalent than ever. The role of women in society has been reverted back to nothing more than a
vessel, an object that produces babies for others, and interpretations of the Bible has led to the loss of their basic moral rights. A
ubiquitous theme in the novel is the relationship between mothers and their children, specifically in the case of the narrator, Offred.
Her child, not named in the novel to provide a universal appeal to the maternal instincts of all readers, as they would feel more
sympathy for Offred in her situation, was taken from her when Offred, formerly known as June and her husband Luke attempted to
flee Gilead. The child was given to a new set of parents and Offred was set to work as a Handmaid. Offred toys with the idea of her
existence during chapter 12, as she postulates; “A girl [...] who still does exist, I hope, though not for me. Do I exist for her? Am I a
picture somewhere, in the dark at the back of her mind?”. This allows the reader further insight into the mentality of women,
subjected to the emotional trauma of losing a loved one to a system beyond one's control. Offred must be willing to accept her child
could be dead, or make peace that she suffers whilst being alive. The phrase “I hope, though not for me”, suggests a kind of
emotional disconnection, as she deeply cares for her daughter, though worries that this love wouldn’t be reciprocated due to the
time apart. Offred could be hoping she managed to escape, live happily as until she has seen her daughter, speculation as to what
happened is a form of holding on to what she has lost and her own sanity. The reference to a “picture”, “in the dark back of her
mind”, suggests that the child’s memories of her mother would be beginning to fade, being forgotten and being replaced with
memories of her new parents, the prospect of which scares Offred. The noun “picture” however, has often been referred to as being
“worth a thousand words” which could imply that the child holds on to all memories of her mother, but by concealing them in a
photograph, she doesn;t become hung up over the loss of each other, but the memories are still fruitful. Nearing the end of the
novel, due to the events that have occurred throughout, Offred is clearly depicted as losing all hope of ever repairing the
relationship between mother and daughter, as it has been ruptured at the seams. In Chapter 35, she states “I have been obliterated
for her. I am only a shadow now, far back behind the glib shiny surface of this photograph. A shadow of a shadow, as dead mothers
become. You can see it in her eyes: I am not there” The verb “obliterated” is violent and destructive suggesting the effect of losing
their relationship on Offred will cause great changes in her physical and mental state causing an eventual deteriorated and demise.
The noun “shadow” which is repeated three times in this phrase, highlights the loss of the relationship further as there is only a faded
tangle connection that remains. In order for there to be a shadow, however, there has to be light, the light in this case reflects the
small amount of hope Offred still holds that the pair could be reunited and escape the ‘prison’ that had become their lives. She also
refers to herself as a “dead mother”, implying that she views herself as changed, already too morphed by the constraints of her
oppressive life, that the prospect of a mother is too distant in memories. The phrase “you can see it in her eyes: I am not there”
suggests how Offred truly feels, as “eyes” are commonly referred to as the window to the soul, if there is no trace of her within her
child, then she feels they have lost each other to the patriarchal, unjust totalitarian society in Gilead.
The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthrone novel written in 1850, follows the journey of an adultress named Hester Prynne who, at the
start of the novel is publically humiliated and made to stand in front of a crowd for several hours with her 3 month old baby, and a
scarlet ‘A’ embellished on her chest. She was convicted of adultery as her husband had been supposedly missing at sea for over two
years. Both Hester and her child recieve a large amount of backlash for her wrongdoing, as in the colonial time period, sex outside of
marriage, or infidelity was seen as a grave sin, they are therefore shunned from society and live in a small cottage at the edge of
town. Here, the relationship between mother and child becomes a strong theme, as Hester’s maternal instincts overrule the
government’s choice to take Pearl and give her to another family. In Chapter 6, Pearl is described by Hester as “throughout all,
however, there was a trait of passion, a certain depth of hue, which she never lost”. The adjective “passion” suggests that you are
ruled by intense emotion, that becomes a motivator, this could preempt and suggest why Pearl is so outspoken about her feelings
at the early stages of her life. The idea of ‘passion’ is reiterated again in the quotation; “out of the rank luxuriance of passion”,
