CliffsNotes on

The Handmaid's Tale

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About the Author

The Early Years

About the Novel

Introduction
The Dystopian Novel
Character List
Timeline
A Brief Synopsis

Summaries and Commentaries

Epigraphs
I Night
II Shopping
III Night
IV Waiting Room
V Nap
VI Household
VII Night
VIII Birth Day
IX Night
X Soul Scrolls
XI Night
XII Jezebeus
XIII Night
XIV Salvaging
XV Night
Historical Notes on The Handmaids Tale
The Femaleroad

CRITICAL ESSAYS

Literary Analysis
Literary Devices
Women in The Handmaids Tale
Themes
Setting
A Note on the Film Version of The Handmaids Tale

Study Help

Quiz
Review Questions And Essay Topics

Cite this Literature Note

How important is it to you to have the hottest new cell phone?

No question. Gotta have the latest, greatest.
Doesn’t matter, as long as it has everything I want.
Couldn’t care less. I could do without a celly altogether.

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Summaries and Commentaries

I Night

Aunts—staff members who blend the prim role of academy schoolmarms with the sadism of prison matrons.

Angels—a euphemism for soldiers, or guards.

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