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An essay on Human behaviour in The Handmaid's Tale and Frankenstein
Edexcel English Literature A-level
Compare the ways in which the writers of your two chosen texts criticise human behaviour.
You must relate your discussion to relevant contextual factors.
In both texts Shelley and Atwood seek to critique human behaviour through the manipulation of science in
order to usurp the role of women and furthermore cause widespread human suffering. Moreover both
authors critique the desire for uniform identity and therefore the oppression of individuality. Shelley critiques
human behaviour through Victor’s misuse of science in order to present the real threat posed by arguably
unethical advancements in science such as galvanism. Similarly Atwood criticises human behaviour in order
to warn readers of the binary oppositions that can represent human nature: good and evil. With the primary
focus on human’s potential for evil and the consequences of that.
Shelley criticises human behaviour through the symbolism of nature as feminine through the violation of this
symbol by Victor. The concept of man manipulating science in order to usurp the role of both God and
women is introduced through this. Nature is presented with feminine qualities as it has the power to both
create and sustain life moreover within the romantic movement nature usually holds intrinsically feminine
connotations. Therefore the metaphor of the rape of nature can be seen as man using science to usurp the
role of both God and women; ‘they penetrate into the recesses of nature, and show how she works in her
hiding places’. The phallocentric verb has inherently masculine connotations presenting the dominant entity
as man. Moreover ‘they’ is a third person plural noun as opposed to ‘she’ which is third person singular
presenting a power imbalance and the idea that nature has been taken advantage of, in addition ‘she’ further
personi es nature. As Shelley was a romantic, the symbol of nature and the sublime plays a key role in her
writing and allows for the critique of human behaviour in support of nature and the natural order therefore
she is possibly condemning, what she would view as immoral, advancements in science at the time such as
galvanism and the threat that playing God poses to humanity. Additionally Frankenstein is written using a
framed narrative which has been said to represent the womb, as it is Walton who is essentially piecing
together the narrative it could be noted that he is usurping the role of women in creation, further fetishising or
even undermining the role of creation itself.
Similarly in THT science is used as a justi cation for rape and the violation of the human body therefore in
the same way Shelley criticises human behaviour through the manipulation of science which intrude on the
natural order, Atwood’s employment of the ‘Ceremony’ and the ritualistic rape of the handmaids in order to
critique the appropriation of science to cause human suffering. Rape as a crime is considered one of the
most inhumane crimes a person can commit. It carries connotations of abduction and violation. Rape is not
just justi ed in Gilead its idealised. Furthermore science is manipulated in order to aide the patriarchy in
usurping the role of women through their ritualistic rape. The sole role of procreation is enforced upon
women ‘sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices’ the metaphors employed could be seen to reinforce the
importance of their role due to the religious connotations of ‘sacred’. Emphasising its importance allows for it
to act as a justi cation for obligatory imposed role women now have. However both ‘vessels/..chalices’ are
commodities, meant to be lled, therefore rather than presenting the importance of their role the juxtaposition
of ‘sacred’ and ‘vessels’ suggests their lack of autonomy and objecti cation in order to criticise the patriarchy
as appropriating the act of creation. In both THT and Frankenstein science is seen to usurp the role of
women in terms of creation. As a result the responsibility and independence of women is removed causing
chaos in the natural order as both suicide and murder are both unnatural events. Following on from the idea
of suicide: the severity of the crime committed by the patriarchy is presented through Offred’s frequent
idealisation of suicide. As a result of having little to no independence Offred is isolated much like both the
monster and Victor. Her isolation results in frequent suppositions of suicide ‘my ancestress, my double,
turning in mid air under the chandelier’. The motif of doubling is employed often to present the united
suffering within Gilead even those who create oppression and marginalisation and simultaneously be a victim
at the hands of the oppression and marginalisation, as created by them in reference to the commander and
his wife. However this concept can also be seen in Frankenstein, as Victor’s social isolation of the monster
leads to his own devastation. The motif of doubling is utilised here to present the suffering of Handmaids as
they are subjected to inhumane treatment. ‘Ancestress’ creates a direct link between Offred and the previous
Offred which could be interpreted as Offred believing that committing suicide is her fate. The misuse of
science in Gilead is representative of the misuse of science in dictatorships that occurred during Atwood’s
life. This was particularly prevalent in Romania where birth control and abortions were banned and instead
women were forced by law to have ve children in order to increase the population. Therefore science is
appropriated bene ting the few but rather causing the marginalisation of groups and cause suffering. As THT
is written as speculative ction the threat of foul and corrupt human behaviour permeates as a key message
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