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Work #825 · Late

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood
1985 · English
Speculative-dystopian novel · Late-twentieth-century anglophone speculative fiction

Atwood's 1985 dystopian novel — the Republic of Gilead and reproductive coercion

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute The Handmaid's Tale (Late)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Non-Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Bi-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Partial
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Single
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Experience
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

The Handmaid's Tale

The arrested time of Gilead with memories of before.

Space

The Handmaid's Tale

The walled Commander's house in former Cambridge, MA.

Matter

The Handmaid's Tale

The reproductively coerced female body.

Observer

The Handmaid's Tale

Offred's recorded testimony.

Energy

The Handmaid's Tale

Energies of coercion and inner resistance.

Information

The Handmaid's Tale

The smuggled-out testimony as historical record.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

The Handmaid's Tale

Atwood's Handmaid's Tale: foundational for contemporary feminist speculative fiction; a defining novel of late-twentieth-century anglophone literature.