Moving toward the Very Space of Human Beings’ Freedom: The Study of Žižekian Act in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale

Abstract

Margaret Atwood has become one of Canada’s major writers in recent decades. Her masterpiece The Handmaid’s Tale explores an alternate reality, which allows Atwood the space to explore issues of humanity while still remaining removed and keeping a broader perspective in relation to the current reality. Notable studies concentrate on a psychological analysis of the novel. This critical focus is important; but it misses the crucial point that the world, portrayed in the novel, is the representative of any real ideological system in which different discourses operate all together. Therefore, the study of characters’ behavior with a methodology that covers both psychological and political elements all at once is still essential. In order to fill the mentioned gap, this essay refers to Slavoj Žižek’s theories and concentrates on the notion of act for the purpose of study. This research examines the political notion of act on Margaret Atwood’s masterpiece The Handmaid’s Tale in a psychological ground. It is an attempt to understand the ways the protagonist rejects her own ideological fantasy and creates an alternate reality. This study provides concrete examples of how a protagonist, named Offred, has been rejecting her own ideological fantasy as a Handmaid.