Interrogating Historical Reality through the Dystopian Lens of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments

Abstract

Throughout history, oppressive regimes, theocratic governments, and extreme patriarchal control have shaped societies like those usually depicted in dystopian fiction. The Puritan theocracy in early America, the Islamic Revolution in Iran, and the persecution of women worldwide serve as real-life parallels to the imagined horrors reflected in The Handmaid’s Tale. The novel explores the future scenario of prevailing societal trends if they are extended to their ultimate consequences. Margaret Atwood examines the historical precedents through satire and parody to critique the selective and constructed nature of history, revealing how narratives are shaped, manipulated, and preserved to serve dominant ideologies. This paper seeks to analyse incidents rooted in history that have shaped the narratives of the novels, The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments, examining how they are depicted, what techniques are employed to record and reinterpret history, and how they reinforce the notion that dystopias are extensions of historical realities rather than being merely speculative fiction.