From Subjugation to Resistance: Feminist Consciousness in the Works of Margaret Atwood
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53573/rhimrj.2023.v10n12.003Keywords:
Subjugation, resistance, patriarchy, gender politics, feminist literature, postmodern feminismAbstract
In her writing, Margaret Atwood asks important questions about patriarchal structures and how feminist awareness is changing. Atwood writes books like “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Surfacing,” and “The Robber Bride” that look at how women are stifled psychologically and politically, while also telling stories of resistance, grit, and reclaiming one’s identity. Her female characters often live in oppressive environments that are a reflection of larger gendered systems of control. However, their journeys show how they gain control, become self-aware, and gain subversive power. Atwood criticizes hegemonic manhood, questions gender roles, and imagines new ways for women to be independent by drawing on both radical and postmodern feminist ideas. The path from subjugation to resistance in Atwood’s fiction is analysed critically in this paper. It shows how her characters change from passive victims of abuse to active agents of change. The study focuses on Atwood’s addition to feminist literature as a way to raise political awareness and try new things in writing by looking at how gender, body politics, and narrative voice all interact.
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