Write a one-page response to what you have learned about Atwood’s manipulation of the Romance genre in the novel.
You might consider:
- What are the generic ‘markers’, the conventions of the Romance genre that appear in the novel?
- What does Atwood do to manipulate these?
- Does this manipulation have a larger purpose?
To the last point, I would urge you to consider the following. The Romance genre perpetuates myths about gender. Among these is that through romantic relationships women are somehow saved, completed or made meaningful. Inherent in this is an assumption of an innate deficit in what it means to be a woman. I suspect that Atwood might take issue with this.
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Mr Derby's 12 Literature 3A/3B Class 
Margaret Atwood in the 1985 dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale subtly manipulates the Romance Genre, and the audiences’ perceptions of what the love in a love story entails. The social differences between men and women, present in Gillied society, are an extrapolation of the adherent tendencies of Western society to categorize and distinguish genders and gender roles. Atwood attempts to challenge these assumptions, through manipulating the romance genre, which in itself permeates myths about gender. Among these is that through romantic relationships women are somehow saved, completed or made meaningful. Inherent in this is an assumption of an innate deficit in what it means to be a woman. It can therefore be said that the romance genre is the antithesis to feminism, as patriarchal structures are not only present, but are pivotal. Madonne Miller suggests that love is not the truly subversive force that it appears to be in the novel, and suggests that ‘the novel expresses real ambivalence about its characters’ enactment of “the love story”. Miller also claims that love has a tendency to follow decidedly conservative narrative forms, within the romance genre. Miller points to the males characters insistence upon certain ‘old values’, in the case of Nick, and the Commanders position of relative power in a culture that requires women to depend upon men. ‘Fraternize means to behave like a brother. Luke told me that. He said there was no corresponding word that meant to behave like a sister’. Like so many men of privileged throughout history, Luke knows the language of the classical curriculum and he uses this knowledge in a subtle reaffirmation of classical gender roles and inequalities. Back to this idea of dependence; Nick’s comment that ‘women are incapable of abstract thought’ although at first seems good humoured, displays this dichotomy that women depend upon men intellectually, economically, physically, and emotionally: an idea that is further perpetuated in the typical romantic novel.
The narrators’ dream in which Luke will not look at her or answer her questions, and in which she refers to Luke’s ex-wife as his wife, is an expression of the narrator’s otherwise unexpressed reservations about her relationship with Luke, and about Luke himself, a man who betrays women. This passage cast’s doubt not only upon the narrator’s story of Luke’s love, but also of love stories in general. If the characters of Luke and the Commander challenge the representations of romance, then Nick functions as the opposite, a fairy-tale prince setting the princess free with a kiss. However, the scrabble game acts as a symbol for the limitations in such a presumption. As the Commander and Offred quote from the movies ‘of a time before’, Offred realizes that the movies themselves do not quote from ‘real life’. These two lovers enact the fabrication, hoping to conjure forth something real with these magic words. Although the pair make up new words such as ‘smurt’ and ‘crup’ they still function within the conventions of the English language, in regards to consonant blends and the presence of vowels. Similarly, the romance enacted in The Handmaid’s Tale operates within these rules, within the conventions of the romance genre. This further challenges Offred claims that she can ‘compose herself’ and further solidifies the idea that Offred is confined by the oppressive patriarchal society of Gillead, and which are still present in the society of 2195, mentioned in the historical notes.
In conclusion, every representation of romance within the novel, including the positive representation of N ick with Offred, is highly ambivalent, and restricted to a novelistic form. Sadly, at the moment these scripts promise us individual love (‘you, yes you, can love and be loved’) they undermine the very possibility of individuality as they restrict experience to a small number of decidedly limited plot lines. In essence the novel subverts the subversive power of love, and it raises serious questions about a man-woman axis when this axis model itself insists upon patterns that restrict rather than liberate.
In her 1985 novel Handmaids Tale, Margaret Atwood gives light to a series of potential genres all of which have the ability to reinforce and or challenge this dominant patriarchal worldview existing both in the setting and context of her novel. In saying this, the classic genre of romance is purposely included by Atwood into her text to reinforce this patriarchal worldview that assumes that all women are in need of being saved. This common perception which often derives from this self fashioning of a masculine identity can be seen throughout not only this literary work, but also in just everyday life. In contemporary society, we see men often rescuing the female counterpart whether it be in a “Walt Disney classic” or even soap shows where the man saves the woman from death, oppression, aggression from her ex husband and so forth. Indeed, this text focuses on the oppression of women, but it also focuses on establishing this genre of Romance amongst its readers. In relationship to the text, Offred relies on her men to save her from the society that had been created which evidently critiques and simply abuses the rights and minds of its female populace. In her fantasy Offred pictures herself with Luke saving her from the change in society, also with the Commander saving her from being just another handmaid and finally Nick who saves her from the non-existence of love. All these men fail to provide. Luke is the one who gets her caught, the Commander reveals that Offred is not the first with her special relationship and it turns out that Nick gets paid to impregnate many of the handmaids. Yet despite of this, Atwood still draws upon this perception of romance, that a man must and will save a women regardless of the outcome or “so it goes.”
To carry on with this myth further that all women are dependent on men to ideally save them, Nick makes the comment that ‘women are incapable of abstract thought’ although at first seems good humoured, displays this dichotomy that women depend upon men intellectually, economically, physically, and emotionally: an idea that is further perpetuated in the typical romantic novel. This in turn runs parallel with the myth that patriarchal power is an inheritance that seemingly enough only truly applies to men which effectively culminates to this question of what does it mean to be a woman and the answer most commonly agreed on is to be a mother, passive, maternal and socially and politically weak. Yet Atwood challenges not only this myth but also this dominant patriarchal perception through Offred. Through her romance, Offred gives light to a sense of feminist identity complementing the feminist movement of the mid 1980’s.
The gender implication of romance made by Atwood allows this text to comment and both critique and reinforce the dominant feminist movement surrounding this literary work.
Atwood and Romance
The novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margret Atwood arguably fits into many different genres all of which arise from the context around which it was written. One most notable genre is that of romance, the very antithesis of feminism, an incredibly strong topic at the time of production. The novel possesses all the markers of a romantic story arch but with its satirical nature these markers are subverted and Atwood’s novel is revealed to indeed be a novel that is directly commenting on the feminist movement. Here we will be looking at how Atwood subverts these romantic story arch markers and hence comments on feminism.
Atwood investigates the genre assumption that in romance all women need to be saved by a man so that she can then subvert this. This assumption comes from a long line of history where men where traditionally the protectors of a tribe, the warriors or hunters; much like today men still feel that they are the protectors and this is why there is such male dominance in the military. In the novel Offred relies on her men to save her from the society that has been created especially the fact that, as Coral Ann Howells says, ‘heterosexual love is the excess term which the system can neither accommodate nor suppress.’ In her fantasy Offred pictures herself with Luke saving her from the change in society, also with the Commander saving her from being just another handmaid and finally Nick who saves her from the non-existence of love. All these men fail to provide. Luke is the one who gets her caught, the Commander reveals that Offred is not the first with her special relationship and it turns out that Nick gets paid to impregnate many of the handmaids. Through this subversion Atwood materializes the feminist idea that women are independent from the failure of men to protect or save them.
Atwood comments on the validity of the patriarchal power structure present within this dystopia by exploring the basis of the gender implications of romance as myth. As Foucault’s theory of power suggests, true power resides with those who make the claim of knowledge, in this case the men. In the world of the text they only maintain power because they restrict the women’s ability to learn and hence the right to knowledge. Similarly, knowledge can only be expressed through a certain discourse that the patriarchal society also limits women from attaining through restricted use of language. In this way Atwood presents the idea of inherent patriarchal power as a myth created by the illusion of truth. This myth of power runs parallel to the myths involved with gender and hence genre stereotypes; women should strive to be mothers, wives, delicate and passive characters; men should be warriors, fathers and strong. Through these stereotypes social differences are sustained by myth, it then follows that the entirety of the patriarchal society is maintained by myth.
The gender implications of romance then represent many of the romantic story arch markers and through the subversion of these Atwood is able to make her comment on the feminist movement.
In 1985, Margaret Atwood wrote her landmark novel The Handmaid’s Tale, for which she received many science-fiction awards. However, Atwood argues that the novel itself is not science-fiction, it is actually speculative fiction. When one considers The Handmaid’s Tale, it becomes apparent that it does not fit neatly into any one genre; in fact it is an amalgam of many different genres. Within the novel, one can clearly identify elements of the American Romance. When investigating this specific genre within The Handmaid’s Tale, one must realise that genres themselves have ideological implications. Atwood, belonging to the post-modernist movement, was conscious of this also, and as such subverts the genre to create a discussion around this genre.
When we look at the genre of American Romance, it becomes clear that certain character archetypes fit into defined gender roles. The main female character always appears to be lacking in some aspect of her life, while the main male character appears to fulfil this deficiency in the woman. This genre, written mainly by women for a female audience, reinforces patriarchal values, as well as the idea of monogamous heterosexual marriage. Atwood is very aware of the ideological implications of this genre, and subvert the genre in order to draw attention to how it reinforces these patriarchal values. Within this discussion of the American Romance, it becomes evident how The Handmaid’s Tale can be described as a feminist text.
One of most obvious subversions of the American Romance genre within The Handmaid’s Tale is Offred’s first sexual encounter with Nick. Offred conjures a romantic scene, with lightning “like punctuation” and Nick becoming a “man made of darkness”. Offred immediately acknowledges that she has “made it up”, and is aware that she and Nick are “acting”. Atwood follows the Post-modernist tradition of being aware of genre, in this case having a narrator who is aware that she is creating a story, a “reconstruction”. In this scene, Atwood dismisses the conventions of American Romance, and brings particular attention to the ideology surrounding it. Present also in this scene is a carpet which Offred imagines to be “mushroom-coloured”. This small detail references her previous sexual encounter with the Commander at Jezebel’s and her first meetings with Luke, in which he cheats on his wife for an affair with Offred. The juxtaposition of an overtly false romantic scene and Offred’s history of infidelity directly challenge the idea of monogamous marriage contained within the American Romance genre. Atwood’s deconstruction of the genre brings particular attention to implicit ideological implications inside the American Romance genre, and interrogates the patriarchal values therein.
In the dystopian novel, A Handmaid’s Tale, author, Margaret Atwood manipulates the genre of romance, as well as the expectations of romance which the audience witheld.The difference of identity between men and women in Gileadean society is an extrapolation of the subtle differences between the sexes in our own context, particularly, the difference of gender roles and expectations. These assumptions are challenged by Atwood who manipulates the genre of romance, which permeates the myths about gender.
One of the ‘myths’ is the myth that by entering a romantic relationship, women are saved from a problem in their life. However behind this assumption then is the proposal that all women have some sort of problem with them, which can only really be solved by a man. Through this proposal it can be seen that the romance genre is the stronghold of Patriarchy. Critic, Madonne Miller, suggest that love is not the rebellious force that it seems to be in the novel. Moreover, Miller claims that love tends to follow conservative forms (within narratives). Miller suggests that women are dependant of men because of the power structure that males have maintained through their old-style culture. Paticularly, two of the main male characters of the book, Luke and Nick reinforce this notion. Luke, for example, uses patriarchal discourse in a seemingly good-humoured way, but at the same time, the very presence of the discourse, still reinforces the idea of patriarchy. Likewise, Nick’s seemingly good-humoured comment that women were “incapable of abstract thought” also reinforces the prominent patriarchal discourse.
When the narrator has a dream that she is being completely being ignored by Luke, the dream can be seen as an expression of the narrator unexpressed reservations about her relationship with Luke, a man who betrays women. This passage casts doubt on the narrator’s relationship with Luke, as well and the romance genre itself. However, If the characters of Luke and the Commander challenge the representations of romance, Nick is the character who affirms the context. To conclude, every time romance is represented in the novel, the representation is highly ambivalent and restricted to a novelistic form.
Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale published in 1985 crosses over into many different genres. Atwood blends elements from genres such as science fiction and American romance in her speculative piece of writing. With this in mind, Atwood’s overtly political novel manipulates the conventions of romance in order to examine a discourse of gender in society. In saying this, Romance reinforces patriarchal worldviews and privileges ideology that engenders women in a mythology that assumes that women are somehow saved, completed or made meaningful through romantic relationships. Atwood seems to take issue with this for she subverts elements of romance in order to challenge the dominant patriarchy. In challenging patriarchal hegemony perpetuated by romance novels, The Handmaid’s Tale can be seen as a feminist manifesto of sorts.
Offred comprehends her own experience through the genre of romance and her growing awareness of herself doing this works to subvert assumptions put forward by American Romans. Her insistence upon characterising herself by her relationships with men is clear from the outset when she first connects her identity to Luke: “I want Luke here so badly. I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable.” Resonating in this is Luke’s adherence to the masculine-protector hero character type, one that frequents so much of the romance genre. However, as the novel progresses Offred becomes increasingly aware of her tendency to reduce her identity to one characterised by a man. She says of her first romantic sexual encounter with Nick that she “made it up.” She reveals that the scene which she just previously described was false and it was not as romantic as she had insinuated. This is significant for in her construction as a narrator who is aware of her own identity and how it is shaped by the genre to which she belongs, Atwood is able to question the very underpinnings of patriarchal mythology. In this scene Atwood seems to challenge the mythology imbued in American romance as she shows that it can so easily be created such as Offred’s story, but that does not mean that it should be held with any credence or regard.
Symbolism that resonates throughout the novel serves as an extension of Atwood’s subversion of the romantic genre. One such instance is Offred’s meetings with the Commander in which they play scrabble. The game of scrabble works in a number of ways for it elicits a power struggle over language and simultaneously rebuffs the idea that romance centres upon human interaction. Offred says “To be asked to play Scrabble…seemed kinky in the extreme.” In this notion, Offred proposes that it is the forbidden nature of the game that is arousing, rather than that of human company which goes against that put forward in romance texts. With regard to my second point surrounding the game of Scrabble, the game itself seems to stand as a metaphor for the way that people can be controlled by language. This is further exposed throughout the novel as the Gilead authorities use, abuse and restrict language as a means by which to manipulate and subjugate women. Examples of this include the names “Offred” and “Offwarren”, and the fact that terms such as “Unwomen” instill fear into the female characters. And so Atwood reveals the wider concerns, such as the predominant power structures, through her manipulation of romance elements.
In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the conventions of the Romance genre are manipulated to satirise the conventional romantic conventions. Atwood still displays several ‘markers’ of the romance genre in the novel. The secret arrangement that Offred has with the Commander, is reminiscent of the forbidden romance that many romance novels follow. While using this as a marker for accepting the conventions of the romance genre, she also subverts them by the process in which the Commander and Offred interact. There is no teenage romance, with the sweetness of young love, instead the symbol of their romantic encounter is the game of scrabble that they play, and eventually Offred asking for the occasional item. Atwood is almost satirising the romance genre, by making such mundane and loveless things as scrabble and hand lotion hold a romantic and sexual value in Offred and the Commander’s eyes. Another convention of the genre that Atwood conforms to is the idea that the woman is there to be swept off of her feet, to be saved from some evil or oppression. Having Offred as a handmaid, one of the lowest figures on the hierarchy of the Gilead, only to be rescued by Nick and presumably swept off of her feet to make passionate love to him. Only, that’s not what happens, as Offred keeps changing the story of what happened then. After two attempts to remember how it happened, she states that she can’t remember, which is a satire of the genre itself. It should have been something that Offred should remember and she just forgot it like a distant memory.