A Feminist Stylistic Analysis of Margaret Atwood’s Novel The Handmaid’s Tale

Abstract

This research explores The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood through a feminist stylistic lens, focusing on how language is used to represent gender. Employing Sara Mills' feminist stylistic theory, this research identifies and analyzes specific language features that contribute to gender differentiation within the text. In this study, the writer used qualitative approach and collecting the data in the form of words, phrases, sentences, and discourses directly from The Handmaid’s Tale, examining how these linguistic choices reflect and reinforce the novel’s exploration of patriarchal oppression.The findings of this study reveal that Atwood uses genderspecific language to emphasize the control and oppression of women in Gilead. Through carefully chosen words, phrases, and discourses, the text highlights the rigid power structures in which women’s identities are suppressed and redefined by patriarchal norms. This feminist stylistic analysis ultimately shows how language in The Handmaid’s Tale plays a significant role in constructing and critiquing oppressive social orders, offering a profound critique of gender power dynamics.