The Originality of THE HANDMAID'S TALE and THE CHILDREN OF MEN: Religion, Justice, and Feminism in Dystopian Fiction

• Main Author: Francesco Bacci
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca 2017-12-01
• Series: Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory
• Subjects: dystopia; feminism; adaptation; The Handmaid’s Tale; The Children of Men.
• Online Access: http://www.metacriticjournal.com/article/86/the-originality-of-the-handmaids-tale-and-the-children-of-men-religion-justice-and-feminism-in-dystopian-fiction

The aim of this paper is to analyze the theoretical challenges and the approach through which The Handmaid’s Tale and The Children of Men describe a world which is destroying itself in a society where human rights do not matter. The main objective is to discuss the role of women in these narrative universes. A space will also be created to consider how the female condition is perceived as a threat to a totalitarian society. In doing so, we will undertake this research with a multidisciplinary approach which takes into consideration the novels and the onscreen adaptations of these two stories. The end of the world is described and portrayed with a peculiar research of details that can convey this general idea of hopelessness. This paper wants to explore and create a detailed socio-cultural perspective on these two novels and movies with the support of a series of academic references to gender and dystopian studies.