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

Abstract

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.

Keywords

• dystopia
• feminism
• adaptation
• The Handmaid’s Tale
• The Children of Men.