Background to The Handmaid’s Tale

Research Task

Margaret Atwood wrote about her novel The Handmaid’s Tale, published in 1985:

‘If I was to create an imaginary garden I wanted the toads in it to be real. One
of my rules was that I would not put any events into the book that had not
already happened in what James Joyce called the “nightmare” of history, nor
any technology not already available. No imaginary gizmos, no imaginary
laws, no imaginary atrocities.’

Your task is to find out about some of the ‘toads’ in Atwood’s imaginary
garden. ‘Toads’ is a metaphor for the real events that inspired her to write a
dystopian novel.

Activity 1 - Genre definitions

Find out the definitions of these genres:

Genre Definition
Science Fiction

Speculative Fiction

Dystopian Fiction
 Activity 2 - Toads in the Garden: Historical events that
inspired The Handmaid’s Tale

Briefly research the following historical events and groups and write a short summary
of each event in your own words.

Topic Brief Explanation/Summary of Historical Event/Group

Salem Witch Trials

East German Stasi

Nazi Lebensborn
Program

Women’s rights in Iran

(After the Islamic
Revolution in 1979)
 Activity 3 - More Toads: Additional Historical Events

These events are not limited to a particular time or place, but have happened in
many places throughout history.

Find out what these terms mean and write an explanation in your own words.

Term Meaning
Show trials

Sumptuary laws

Slavery

Polygamy

Theocracy

Totalitarianism