Essay on 'The Handmaid's Tale' Aunts

The sequence I have chosen to analyze starts when the handmaids file into the salvaging and ends with the man accused of rape, kneeling, and surrounded by the Handmaids. This is a turning point for the character of Offred, as we see her understanding her terrible situation with increased clarity throughout the extract and this makes the viewer recognize the intensity of the situation. The extract also shows the viewer the values and rules of Gilead for the first time. This is done in the extract mainly through cinematography, sound, and mise-en-scene.

The establishing shot from this extract is a birds-eye view of the handmaids filing into straight, strict lines, symbolizing how the crowd is controlled and oppressed. This scene has a parallel to the Hitler-endorsed Triumph of the Will documentary speech scene in Nuremberg, which is a historical and symbolic account of the beginning of an oppressive political regime. The mise-en-scene in The Handmaid's Tale shot is quite similar to one of the shots in Triumph of the Will as it has the people in defined lines. This parallel is important as it reveals the situation of Gilead, demonstrating the totalitarian nature of the society.

This is also an extreme long shot that separates the viewer from Offred for the first time since previously the viewer had a direct link to Offred’s thoughts through a voice-over. Within this shot, Offred becomes just one of the many handmaids and from this birds-eye view, they all look the same in the red cloaks and white wings. Demonstrating that even though they are all different people, as shown in close-up further in the scene, at this moment they are all regarded as one and are all in the same situation.

After a series of close-ups of Offred, the extract cuts to a mid-shot of Janine. This is significant as it shows Janine’s pregnant stomach for the first time and allows the viewer to see that she has stepped out of her line. Janine is also positioned on the first third line, as well as her stomach being on one of the points of intersection. Her stomach is also framed by her pale hands which are contrasted against the red. This brings more attention to her stomach and highlights the importance of pregnancy in Gilead. Janine is placed out of her line when she talks to Offred and she is not punished or told off this leads the viewer to see the immunity that is given to anyone pregnant as well as gives an insight into Janine’s mental state, as she must be crazy to go against the rules, as none of the other handmaids dare to step out of their lines as there are gunmen all around them, seen as a black figure in the previous establishing shot. This represents the cultural values of Gilead as it shows how no one is going to hurt a pregnant woman as babies are rare and precious due to the decreasing fertility rates. This prestige gives Janine more power than the other handmaids and so it shoots from a slightly low angle at all times.

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Through the cinematography, the viewer can see that this is a pivotal turning point in the character development of Offred as this shows her progression through levels of understanding about her situation. At the beginning of this extract, Offred is not necessarily happy about her situation but she still follows all the rules. Her next level of understanding comes when she finds out that Moira is dead. Once this is revealed, previous non-diegetic sounds stop and there is complete silence, and the close-up of Offred does not change and neither does her facial expression. This next shot is very important as it has a long shot duration. This ensures that the viewer is constantly seeing Offred’s face so that you can understand what is going on in her head. As there is still no voiceover of Offred’s thoughts there is complete silence until string music begins to play. The string music has a melancholic tone that helps to depict the sadness that Offred is feeling from losing her friend and the facial expression, seen from a close-up, reflects this feeling. This is also paired with a high-pitched note that drops in and out symbolizing the numbness that she is feeling and her detached state. This detached state is reinforced as Aunt Lydia’s voice is in the background but is quiet and fuzzy demonstrating that Offred is coming in and out of reality and she is in shock. This long shot duration reinforces the drama and tension in this scene and joined with everything else starts to build the tension. This shot continues while Offred moves to her new place her eyes never reaching the camera.

The next scene is of Aunt Lydia talking to the handmaids about why they were called and what the convicted man has done. It starts with a voice-over by the Aunt telling the Handmaids to kneel. This is a very important factor as all of the handmaids kneel symbolizing the power that the Aunt has and the oppression of the handmaids. Within this scene, the camera switches between Aunt Lydia to the handmaids continuously to make sure that the viewer can see the reactions of the Handmaids to what the Aunt is saying. When Aunt Lydia is talking she is shot from a low camera angle and the mise-en-scene of the shot is important as she is wearing brown and is situated on one of the third lines in the foreground so that you can see the background behind her. The brown clothing that she is wearing is the color of the aunts and segregates her from the handmaids. In the background, there is the symbol of Gilead and red flowing curtains. The placement of the objects in this scene is important as it is symmetrical implying that there is order and it has a very similar placement of the symbol and curtains in Triumph of the Will. This mise-en-scene is used to get the viewer to have feelings of fear and understand the severity of the situation.

The Handmaids are usually shown in close-ups so that the audience focuses their attention on the reactions of the handmaids. One would think that the Handmaids would be shot from a high angle to emphasize their lack of power, however, the consuming of the handmaids, and their white wings, do not allow for the handmaids to be shot from a high angle and be able to see their facial expressions.

A close-up of Offred in this scene shows her next level of understanding. Offred has been sad in the past shots but in this close-up she becomes angry. This is shown through her facial expression as she looks up angrily.

Within this scene, Aunt Lydia is talking about how this man is convicted of raping a Handmaid. Through a tracking shot of the kneeling handmaid, the viewer can see that they barely react, demonstrating that in Gilead rape culture has been normalized as the Handmaids are raped at every ‘ceremony’. This sentence is finished by the Aunt saying that this handmaid was pregnant and the baby died. At this, the handmaids become distraught because it is an awful thing to happen. This is shown through a montage of shots of the handmaids and their reactions. The first is a close-up of Offred’s face showing that she is shattered by this news, followed by a side-tracking shot of the handmaids holding their wings and talking to each other, and then a long shot of the handmaids and their reaction. There is a much bigger reaction to the death of a baby than a handmaid being raped. In our culture, a rape of a woman would be regarded as just as horrific as a baby dying, which differentiates Gilead’s society from the present society.