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22 mars 2024
- handle: 10670/1.cmbkrr
- isbn: 978-2-7535-9744-0
- hal: hal-04553608
- doi: 10.4000/books.pur.196431
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info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.4000/books.pur.196431
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dystopia Bible fundamentalism desire love Margaret AtwoodCiter ce document
Anne-Frédérique Mochel-Caballero, « “Love is not the Point” : Objects of Desire in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale », HAL-SHS : littérature, ID : 10.4000/books.pur.196431
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Though a republic in name, Gilead is a theocracy created with the alleged aim of pleasing God by making the world a better place; indeed, the country’s ongoing problems are interpreted as a punishment for humanity’s previous misconduct. So the official objects of desire are God and God’s word. However, the Biblical text is inaccessible to all but a small and entirely male elite and interpreted with intent to serve their designs. In The Handmaid’s Tale, the real objects of desire are the same as they have always been: power, the forbidden fruit, and immortality. As for Offred, her memories enable her to yearn for what she has lost and wanting therefore becomes a means of keeping her identity. She also has plenty of desires in the present, and this is an act of rebellion since the regime wants her to be contented with her lot. Above all she longs to love and to be loved. Thus, she is the one who comes closest to the God of the Bible, the God who defines himself as “Love.”