In the story, an environmental disaster has led to most women becoming infertile, and the small number who are still able to become pregnant are forced to become handmaids, women who are owned by the ruling elite and systematically raped in order to provide them with children.
In The Handmaid's Tale, infertility is linked to another one of Gilead's prominent problems: pollution. As revealed in the season 1 episode "A Woman's Place," inorganic farming and radioactivity are to blame for declining fertility.
Standing (somewhat) faithfully behind (not next to) their husbands who rank as Commanders, the Wives are generally infertile women tasked with expanding the population of Gilead through the help of an assigned handmaid. Their infertility, however, isn't always confirmed.
In Gilead, men are never to blame as there is no such thing as male infertility. If a Commander goes through one, two, or three Handmaids with no children it is not he who is to blame but those handmaids.
The Waterfords were previously believed to both be infertile. Fred had failed to get both June and a previous handmaid pregnant, despite many attempts even outside Gilead's "ceremony". Serena was shot in her lower abdomen by a protester in the days before Gilead, and her injuries damaged her reproductive organs.
A fair number of the childless couples are due to male infertility, so adding a handmaid to the mix just means that she won't be producing children either, unless she cheats on her commander with either her gynocologist or a male in the commander's household when she is most fertile.
Noah Waterford is a character in The Handmaid's Tale. He is the son of Serena Waterford and Fred Waterford.
It is implied that some Wives are capable of bearing children, but most are older women and thus have difficulty conceiving (or their husbands are infertile), which is also hampered by widespread infertility. As a result, Wives have to 'share' their husbands with Handmaids, in order to get a child.
But her best gal pals don't want her to feel like she's missing out or that Janine might be superior for physically birthing the child, so they pretend she is due for labor any moment.
The Marthas
They are low-ranking, infertile women who cook, clean, and help take care of the ruling class's offspring.
Handmaids have three chances to get pregnant in three different households during two year assignments. If, after the third time, they are not able to produce a living, healthy baby, they will be sent off to the Colonies to face certain death.
In the story, an environmental disaster has led to most women becoming infertile, and the small number who are still able to become pregnant are forced to become handmaids, women who are owned by the ruling elite and systematically raped in order to provide them with children.
10 They Must Dress In Teal
Wives are dressed in modest dresses of varying shades of teal/blue, indicative of their supposed 'purity' as non-sinners (compared to the violent, but fertile, shade of red the handmaids wear).
In the series, Fred is a man in his 40's who is high in the ranks of the Commanders, and Serena is in her 30s, who is infertile. The novel depicts a contrasting depiction of these characters.
No. Sex is only performed to reproduce and thats what the Handmaids are for.
Unbaby, or shredder, is the term used in the Republic of Gilead to describe infants that are suffering from birth defects or physical deformities. These die shortly after birth due to their defects. They are usually taken away to be disposed of.
The Handmaid is sent on to the next assignment. By giving birth, she can't be considered an unwoman. But giving birth and giving the child away is painful - it is part of her punishment, the pregnancies and unwanted adoptions part of her repaying her debt to society for her sins.
Sex between husband and Handmaid is only permitted during the “Ceremony,” a monthly ritual which involves the “barren” wife as well.
In the book and TV show, we see OBGYN exams of the women. In the original movie, we see the potential handmaids identified by blood tests and further “verified” via an OBGYN exam. This suggests the fertility checks are a medical exam similar to a conventional pap smear.
The name "Martha" comes from the bible, after one of Jesus' friends who is a pragmatic and focused on domestic concerns; hence the Marthas' role as housekeepers in Gilead.
Crabtree said that the brownish green of the aunts' clothes is meant to convey a militaristic degree of authority, calling back to the military uniforms of World War I, while the dull, pale green of the Marthas is meant to evoke a sense that these women are "wither[ing] into their environment."
In privacy, June spits out the ornamental cookie. By purging out the pink mashed-up vile, June has refused to swallow the Wives' counterfeited piety. In the domain of Gilead, these cookies are a status symbol laid out before the Handmaid's eyes.
Not only has she been edged out of her protected position as the Wife of a powerful Commander, but as a single pregnant woman, she soon became a Handmaid.
The childbirth scene is primal and intimate and prompts the women to confess their secrets: June tells Serena that she didn't kill her when she had the chance because she simply didn't want to, and Serena realizes she has been forced into essentially being a handmaid in the Wheelers house and begs June to take her baby ...
She's in love with Nick." This underlines June's thinking in The Handmaid's Tale season 4 finale: while Luke can offer her so many great things like a safe, happy family life, Moss herself admits that June belongs with Nick.