The Handmaid’s Tale

Introduction + Context

Detailed Summary & Analysis

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12. Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Historical Notes on the Handmaid’s Tale Chapter 30

Themes

All Themes Gender Roles Religion and Theocracy Fertility Rebellion Love Storytelling and Memory

Characters

All Characters Offred The Commander Serena Joy Nick Luke Moira

Symbols

All Symbols The Color Red The Eye Makeup

Literary Devices

All Literary Devices Allusions Flashbacks Genre Imagery Irony Metaphors Mood Motifs Setting Similes Situational Irony Style Tone Unreliable Narrator Verbal Irony

Sign In Sign up for A⁺

AI Tools

Ask LitCharts AI
Discussion Question Generator
Essay Prompt Generator
Quiz Question Generator

Guides

Literature Guides
Poetry Guides
Shakespeare Translations
Literary Terms

Sign In Sign up for A⁺ Sign up

The Handmaid’s Tale

by

Margaret Atwood

Upgrade to A⁺

Download this LitChart! (PDF)

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Handmaid’s Tale makes teaching easy.

Introduction Intro

Plot Summary Plot

Summary & Analysis

All Themes
Gender Roles
Religion and Theocracy
Fertility
Rebellion
Love
Storytelling and Memory

All Characters
Offred
The Commander
Serena Joy
Nick
Luke
Moira

All Symbols
The Color Red
The Eye
Makeup

All Literary Devices
Allusions
Flashbacks
Genre
Imagery
Irony
Metaphors
Mood
Motifs
Setting
Similes
Situational Irony
Style
Tone
Unreliable Narrator
Verbal Irony

Theme Wheel Theme Viz

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Handmaid’s Tale makes teaching easy.

Ask LitCharts AI:
The answer to your questions

Get instant explanations to your questions about anything we cover.
Powered by LitCharts content and AI.

Ask LitCharts AI:
The answer to your questions

Ask LitCharts AI:
The answer to your questions

The Handmaid’s Tale Literary Devices

Get

LitCharts

Download this Chart (PDF)

“Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!”

Get the Teacher Edition

“This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”

Need something? Request a new guide.

How can we improve? Share feedback.

LitCharts is hiring!

Company

About Us Our Story Jobs

Support

Help Center Contact Us Citation Generator

Connect

Facebook Twitter

Legal

Terms of Service Privacy Policy Privacy Request

Home About Contact Help

Copyright © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Terms Privacy Privacy Request

Save time. Stress less.

AI Tools for on-demand study help and teaching prep.
Quote explanations, with page numbers, for over 44,123 quotes.
PDF downloads of all 1,994 LitCharts guides.
Expert analysis to take your reading to the next level.
Advanced search to help you find exactly what you're looking for.
Quizzes, saving guides, requests, plus so much more.

Expert analysis to take your reading to the next level.
Advanced search to help you find exactly what you're looking for.
Quizzes, saving guides, requests, plus so much more.

Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account

You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes.

or

Already have an account? Sign in

Complete your free account to request a guide

Already have an account? Sign in

Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account.

You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles.

or

Already have an account? Sign in

Complete your free account to access notes and highlights

Already have an account? Sign in

Saving guides requires a free LitCharts account

Easily access your saved guides anytime.

or

Already have an account? Sign in

Complete your free account to save guides

Already have an account? Sign in