My brilliant shelf by Wendy Nield https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11 Made with an open mind en-us 2017-12-08 08:22:53 UTC 2025-11-21 17:01:48 UTC hello@padlet.com Beth nieldw https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214450198
  • Child-like treatment
  • Confinement in house 
  • Eyes
  • Forced to have sex
  • Passivity of women (even Moira becomes passive and gives in)
  • Threat of the colonies
  • Forced participation in government events e.g prayvaganza, salvaging
  • Not allowed to spend time with anyone
  • Have to eat basic food they are given
  • Offred does everything she is meant to for the first part of the book- women have no unity and so cannot rebel effectively
  • Nuns are forced to become handmaids
  • Men are not allowed to have sex unless they earn an econowife or become commanders
  • Wives are only allowed to do trivial domestic activities 
  • Marthas have to cook, clean, and look after children (traditional female roles)
  • Everyone has to dress appropriately and lose their individual
    • ]]>     2017-12-08 11:54:25 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214450198     Megan q180347 https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214450199
  • Handmaids are treated like children
  • Forbidden to read or write
  • Isolated from other Handmaids
  • Handmaid’s uniform is confining
  • Threatened with the Colonies
  • Government misquotes from the Bible to support their actions
  • Handmaids are given the name of their Commander

    • ]]>     2017-12-08 11:54:25 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214450199     Sam nieldw https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214450200
  • Handmaids are restricted from reading/writing - suppresses their ability to share their thoughts
  • Women expected to be passive
  • Women given passive roles - Handmaids, Marthas, wives etc.
  • Suppression of sexual pleasure - made a purely reproductive act
  • Isolation from other Handmaids, not officially allowed to participate in serious conversation with those higher up in chain of command
  • Often treated as child or second class citizen by wives/Marthas
  • Smoking/drinking forbidden for Handmaids, basic foodstuffs given to them but can’t indulge in the niceties others get
    • ]]>     2017-12-08 11:54:25 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214450200     Molly https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214450209
  • She is restricted from doing things like smoking and drinking 
  • She isn’t allowed to read or write 
  • Basic diet which is best approved for bearing a child, so really boring food
  • She’s treated like a child 
  • Rules and regulations she must follow
  • She has to attend the ceremonies which she probably doesn’t really want to attend to
  • The clothing she wears is very covering, she covers all her skin and her face
  • She is threatened by going to the colonies if she is not successful
  • She can’t talk with other women
  • She’s very lonely, no communication with normal people, it’s all very formal and religious 
  • Isolated from the other handmaids
  • They’re not even allowed to use their real names, it’s “of*theircommander*”
  • They are separated from their families and friends, they don’t know where anybody is, and even if they’re still alive
    • ]]>     2017-12-08 11:54:28 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214450209     Caitlyn williamsa18 https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214450240
  • Forbidden to read and write or seek any knowledge 
  • Made to wear long floor length dresses and habits- like Nuns
  • Confined to the house like a prisoner 
  • Treated like children; given healthy, schoolgirl type meals to eat 
  • Forced to live with the constant threat of being deported to the colonies 
  • Fed false information from a theocratic government 
  • Prevented from rebelling at all times; even committing suicide 
  • Forbidden from expressing their own sexuality 
  • Treated as vessels 
  • Have their names and titles taken away from them
    • ]]>     2017-12-08 11:54:40 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214450240     Megan q180347 https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214451777
  • Mayday
  • Nolite te bastardes carborundorum
  • Offred plays Scrabble with her Commander
  • The first ‘Offred’ killed herself
  • Ofglen commits suicide
  • Secret meetings with Moira
  • Using butter as hand cream and face cream
  • Serena Joy’s black market cigarettes
  • Ofglen puts the political prisoner out of his misery by kicking him in the head
  • The executions prove that defiance takes place outside of Offred’s circle
  • Offred visits the Commander in his office
  • Jezebel 


    • ]]>     2017-12-08 12:04:32 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214451777     Molly https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214451794
  • MayDay- almost like their secret club, a way of finding things out
  • Offred’s meetings with the commander 
  • Sleeping with nick in hope to provide Serena a child, almost like cheating the system
  • Sneaking to the washroom to meet with moira so they can talk in private 
  • Going out to the club with the commander 
  • The writing in the cupboard 
  • The cigarette she receives from Serena, along with the Polaroid of her child 
  • Suicide 
  • Moira plots many escapes out of the system
  • Telling each other their real names 
  • Getting hand lotion and magazines from the commander 
  • Serena let’s the hole house watch the news at the beginning of the meeting ceremony before the commander arrives 
  • Jezzabelle’s 
  • The cushion that says ‘faith’, the only thing she could find to read at first 

    • ]]>     2017-12-08 12:04:38 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214451794     Sam nieldw https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214451798
  • Mayday movement
  • Jezebel’s
  • Black market products
  • Offred’s relationship with both the Commander and Nick
  • The doctor’s offer to impregnate Offred
  • Ofglen’s suicide
  • Pseudo-Latin message in room
  • Moira’s escape from the Red Centre
  • Butter in lieu of face cream
  • Serena Joy offering a cigarette to Offred
  • Reading the Commander’s magazines
  • Playing Scrabble

    • ]]>     2017-12-08 12:04:39 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214451798     Caitlyn williamsa18 https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214451827
  • Mayday
  • Hitting the political prisoner on the head 
  • Playing scrabble, reading magazines, wearing makeup...
  • Visiting the Commander in his office 
  • Visiting Nick 
  • Being given a photograph of her daughter 
  • Whispering in the Red Centre 
  • Ofglen 
  • The first Offred killing herself 
  • Butter in the shoe; match under the mattress 
  • The message in the cupboard 
  • Jezebel’s 
  • The black market 
  • Nick touching her foot with his during the reading of the Bible 
  • There must be a resistance group if they keep killing people


    • ]]>     2017-12-08 12:04:52 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214451827     Beth nieldw https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214451967
  • Moira is a symbol of rebellion
  • In the RC the women share their names and Offred and Moira talk to one another
  • Offred’s mother was a feminist pre-Gilead and rebelled against the religious ideology which was prevalent before its existence
  • Serena has access to photograph of Offred’s daughter
  • Serena rebels by arranging Offred’s encounter with Nick
  • Rita has access to matches and kitchen knives, so could rebel, but chooses not to
  • Offred plays scrabble with the commander
  • Jezebel’s exists
  • There are always bodies appearing on the wall
  • There is an underground mayday group which rebels
  • At the end, Offred could potentially be saved by a group of rebels
  • Offred uses butter as hand cream
  • Some handmaids kill themselves
  • Cora and Offred agree not to tell anyone when Cora drops her breakfast
  • The commander rebels by interacting with Offred and taking her to Jezebel’s 
  • Nick rebels by getting things and running errands for the leaders of the house
    • ]]>     2017-12-08 12:05:54 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214451967     Sam nieldw https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214453407
  • Serena Joy’s Garden - tended to by her but heavy lifting is done by Guardians
  • Living room has a mixture of authentic & not authentic things
  • Everything smells of Lily of the Valley - Serena Joy’s perfume 
  • Offred likens both the household and the bed to being on a ship
  • 'Little things mean a lot' - sitting room is Serena Joy's territory. Commander has to knock and wait to enter
  • Nick's apartment - former 'bachelor pad'
    • ]]>     2017-12-08 12:14:30 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214453407     Beth nieldw https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214453409 2017-12-08 12:14:30 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214453409 Megan q180347 https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214453461
  • System emphasises a woman’s role in childbearing 
  • Women are expected to be modestly dressed
  • Smoking and wearing makeup are frowned upon, smoking seen as masculine
  • Separated into Wives, Handmaids, Marthas and Jezebels
  • Wives are not allowed to work
  • Wives wear blue (similarity with the biblical Mary)
  • Handmaids wear red (represents fertility)
  • Marthas wear green (represents nature and the natural role of women)
    • ]]>     2017-12-08 12:14:49 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214453461     Molly https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214453487
  • They are not allowed to use their real names, handmaids are called “of” the name of their commander. Offred is of Fred, Fred being the name of her commander. This is very possessive and almost objectifies the handmaids. 
  • Following on from that, when they tell eachother their real names it is an act of defiance. 
  • Past identities do not matter. The fact that Serena joy was once on television and a professional singer does not alter her role in the system. She too is oppressed by the system.  
  • The colour of their outfits represent their role in the society. Wives wear blue, handmaids wear red. 
  • The historical notes suggest that all the names used in the transcript are made up anyway- perhaps Offred created them herself to protect her own and others identities. 
  • Identities remain a mystery throughout the novel which plays a key part in the idea of isolation and loneliness, very oppressive.
    • ]]>     2017-12-08 12:15:02 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214453487     Caitlyn williamsa18 https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214453488
  • The Salvaging; The women come together to murder the political prisoner 
  • Whispering their names to each other in the Red Centre 
  • Working together when the baby is born 
  • Wanting to talk and gossip with Rita and Cora in the kitchen 
  • The Mayday resistance group 
  • Wives pretend to be sick so that other Wives will visit them 
  • Putting alcohol in the punch 
  • The friendship between Offred and Moira 
  • The prostitutes smoking together in the restroom 

    • ]]>     2017-12-08 12:15:02 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214453488     nieldw https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214453539 Faith cushion in Offred’s room
    Not allowed to read bible (only hear possibly fabricated readings of it)
    Scrabble
    Prayer sheets from the ex-lingerie shop
    Offred tells her story, indicating her hope that someone will hear her
    Offred admits that she gets distracted by trivia when telling her story
    We hear the stories of many different characters through Offred’s eyes
    Offred tells us that her story is not civilised. This could be a reference to the disjointed selection of events (Offred’s train-of-thought storytelling), or possibly an attack on the barbarity of the events in Offred’s life, which is shaped by the theocratic regime

    ]]>     2017-12-08 12:15:21 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/214453539     Grace nieldw https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/218924151
  • Offred pines after Luke
  • Mothers love - Janine and Charlotte, Offred and her daughter
  • The lack of love between the commander and Serena Joy
  • The lust and passion between Nick and Offred
  • Marriage of young children in order to optimise reproduction
  • Marriages of handmaids are nulled - Does it count as adultrey?
  • Commander lusts over Offred
  • Offred teases guards by wiggling her hips
  • Serena Joys desperation to have a child to love herself
  • Friendship between Offred and Ofglen/Moria is a form of love
    • ]]>     2018-01-05 12:19:10 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/218924151     https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/218924309
  • The aunts are allowed to read and write
  • The commanders are the only ones allowed to read the bible, which is given extreme importance in the regime (the handmaids are read sections of it in the RC and it is kept in a special box)
  • The language of the past becomes increasingly difficult for Offred to remember, but she recounts the names of certain brands etc
  • The Latin phrase on the inside of the wardrobe, the scrabble, and reading the magazines are all ways in which reading and writing is used to rebel
    • ]]>     2018-01-05 12:20:28 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/218924309     Caitlyn nieldw https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/218924311
  • The aunts ironically don’t act maternal towards the Handmaids and instead treat them with cruelty.
  • Offred is given a photograph of her daughter by Serena Joy 
  • Janine, acting as surrogate mother, gives birth with the Wives in the same room. The Wives then become the new Mothers.
  • The Handmaids had their children taken away from them and given to elite couples with no children of their own
    • ]]>     2018-01-05 12:20:30 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/218924311     Megan nieldw https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/218924443
  • Names of the Handmaids are taken from the men they are given to
  • Their real names are forbidden to be used
  • Handmaids wear a uniform which takes away individuality

    • ]]>     2018-01-05 12:21:30 UTC https://padlet.com/nieldw/handmaidsthemes11/wish/218924443