gender treachery betrayal of traditional sex roles that is, homosexual acts.
Gilead in Old Testaments times, a productive Israelite upland region cast of the Jordan River and northeast of the Dead Sea. Gilead was known for ample flocks of sheep and goats, orchards and vineyards, and plentiful spices.
Gyn Ed education in womanhood, from the Greek gyne, meaning woman.
Hard Times a key novel by Charles Dickens depicting the blatant human exploitation common during England's Industrial Revolution.
Holy Rollers a derisive term applied to energetic religious groups, primarily Pentecostal, who dance, shout, embrace, testify, and speak gibberish during spiritual ecstasy.
HOPE and CHARITY the pillow inscribed with "FAITH" suggests the remaining two abstract nouns of Paul's triad, found in I Corinthians 13:13, "Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." In Gilead, there is precious little hope or charity; Offred is left with faith in herself.
I feel so lonely, baby concluding lines from Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel."
I tell time by the moon that is, by her menstrual periods, which parallel the 28-day lunar cycle.
I tell, therefore you are a rephrasing of Rene Descartes' I think, therefore I am."
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow God's punishment of Eve in Genesis 3:16. The verse concludes with Eve's loss of autonomy: and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."
Identipasses in-town visas; an unconstitutional restriction on personal freedom.
in homage to the great Geoffrey Chaucer author of The Canterbury Tales (1385), a series of narratives told by a contingent of pilgrims traveling to a religious shrine in Canterbury, England. Each tale is identified by the profession or social status of the teller — that is, the wife of [from] Bath, the knight, the nun's priest, the franklin, and so forth.
In Hope the brief phrase suggests several biblical passages, particularly Psalm 16:9, an uplifting statement of trust that God promises joy and deliverance from suffering: "Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: My flesh also shall rest in hope.
