100% satisfaction guarantee Immediately available after payment Both online and in PDF No strings attached
logo-home
Previously searched by you
Previously searched by you
logo
A* Essay Plan: the significance of Gilead's rituals and ceremonies £2.99
Add to cart
Quickly navigate to
Preview
  2.  
  3. AQA
  4.  
  5. English Literature A
  6.  
  7. The Handmaid\\\'s Tale

Other

A* Essay Plan: the significance of Gilead's rituals and ceremonies
 0 purchase
  • Institution
  • AQA

Detailed A* Essay Plan answering the AQA question of the significance of rituals and ceremonies, including full introduction and conclusion covering all assessment objectives. When written up, it achieved full marks and an A*.

Preview 1 out of 2  pages

Document information

  • February 6, 2025
  • 2
  • 2024/2025
  • Other
  • Unknown

Subjects

Connected book

book image

Book Title:

Author(s):

  • Edition:
  • ISBN:
  • Edition:

More summaries for

All for this textbook (3)

Written for

All documents for this subject (18)

Seller

avatar-seller
alevelliteraturenotes

Content preview

Examine the significance of Gilead's rituals and ceremonies in The Handmaid's
Tale
INTRODUCTION In Margaret Atwood’s 1983 novel The Handmaid's Tale, the use of
rituals like Salvagings, Birth Days and the infamous Ceremony helps
to enforce compliance amongst Gileadean citizens in order to retain
the stringent male hegemony. Throughout the novel, rituals are used
to control Gileadean citizens, turn them against each other, retaining
control and to give the regime a basis in both the Bible and the
minds of its people.

PARA 1: Control Rituals help to control Gilead’s people by regimenting their daily
routine and demonstrating the consequences of straying from the
norm. The use of bells throughout impedes on especially Offred’s
sensory thinking, keeping them in a school-like/ convent-like life
where everything is regimented and they are both infantilised and
lacking control and shunned into silence. The humiliation of all
participants in the Ceremony “codifies procreation” (Cavalcanti) and
stigmatises it so it cannot take place outside of Gilead's “pattern of
life” (Malak). The unification of the handmaids during Birth day gives
them a channeled focus as they all labour together (”We grip each
other's hands, no longer single”), the loss of individual self prohibits
rebellion.

PARA 2: Betrayal Gilead’s rituals are imbued with internal hierarchies, often in physical
manifestations. For instance, the wife is always holding or above the
Handmaids (also in the hierarchal sense), the Handmaids are made
to sit at the salvagings whereas the wives and daughters stand
about. This leads to conflict between the citizens, especially jealousy
between wives and handmaids and between handmaids, creating
gynocentric misogyny. “The work women do conspires to maintain
the subjection of their own kind” Goldblatt. Outlets at the Salvagings
and the birthdays create dionysian events of base desire (fueled by
alcoholic grape juice, Dionysius god of wine). (”we are permitted
anything and this is freedom”- Salvaging)/(”we too need our orgies”)
—> “religion is the opiate of the masses” Marx

PARA 3: Basis The Rituals also create a biblical and mental basis for themselves to
exist, in this way they are self-fulfilling. Some rituals have direct roots
in the Bible, like Deuteronomy during the Salvaging but some of
Gilead’s mechanisms are excused by made up or altered bases like
“To each according to his need, from each according to her ability”
Originally a comment by Marx, twisted into something by St Paul by
Aunt Lydia, so that contrasting ideas are twisted into a stronger
ideology (”Its Genius was synthesis”- Piexoto).

CONCLUSION: All in all, rituals solidify Gilead’s self-sustaining synthesis, enabling
the promotion of internal hierarchies and evidenced by its
ever-changing dogma.

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller alevelliteraturenotes. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for £2.99. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

71241 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 15 years now

Start selling

Recently viewed by you

Exam (elaborations) ·

(0)

interviews and interrogation gpstc exam with complete solutions

Exam (elaborations) ·

(0)

HDFS Exam 1 Child Development Questions with Complete Solutions

Exam (elaborations) ·

(0)

HIM 1103 / HIM1103 Module06 Final Exam Coding Foundation GRADED A+

Exam (elaborations) ·

(0)

NAPLEX Review- Calculations and Equations(WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS)

Exam (elaborations) ·

(0)

BI 255 Lab Exam 1 Study Guide Questions With Complete Solutions

Exam (elaborations) ·

(0)

RN Pharmacology VATI Re-evaluation Assessment{GRADED A} 2023-2024

Exam (elaborations) ·

(0)

Boating License FL questions and answers with complete solution

Summary ·

(0)

Uitgewerkte voorbereidingsvragen en theorie uit de lessen, AFP5.
£2.99
  • (0)
Add to cart
Added