QUOTE TEXT "The Erring" in the Orphan's Advocate (1844) and the Social Monitor (1844), as quoted in Our Woman Workers: Biographical Sketches of Women Eminent in the Universalist Church for Literary, Philanthropic and Christian Work http://books.google.com/books?id=GQK3D5X9E4kC (1881) by E. R. Hanson, p. 170. Context: Think gently of the erring:Ye know not of the powerWith which the dark temptation cameIn some unguarded hour.Ye may not know how earnestlyThey struggled, or how well,Until the hour of weakness came, And sadly thus they fell. Knowing was a temptation. What you don't know won't tempt you. The Handmaid's Tale (ed. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1986) - ISBN: 9780547345666
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This is an allusion to the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Red Shoes,” in which a young girl is forced to dance in her red shoes—even after her feet have been amputated—and her only release comes when an angel takes her to heaven.
This is an allusion to the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood,” in which a young girl dressed in a red cloak is eaten by a wolf pretending to be her grandmother.
This is an allusion to Thomas Middleton and William Rowley’s play The Changeling (1622). The “sister” refers to a virgin who, having convinced a servant to murder her fiancé because she loves another man, is forced to have sex with the servant as recompense.
The term “Martha,” the title given to cooks in Gilead, is an allusion to a biblical story from the New Testament (Luke 10:38–42) in which Jesus visits two sisters, Martha and Mary; Martha is so distracted by making preparations for him that she fails to listen to his teachings, as her sister Mary does. Chapter 3
This is a religious allusion to the wedding vows first written down in the Book of Common Prayer (1549) for prayers used in England’s Anglican Church.
The names of the cars are religious allusions to stories from the Old Testament; a chariot and a whirlwind are both mentioned in 2 Kings (2:11) when the prophet Elijah is taken to heaven, while a behemoth, a term used to name a large animal, is mentioned in Job (40:15).
This is an allusion to John Milton’s Sonnet 19, “When I Consider How My Light Is Spent,” which maintains the importance of serving God.
This is a religious allusion to the crown of thorns placed on Jesus’s head by his executioners, and it signifies hardship and sorrow.
This is an allusion to a popular song about loneliness called “Me and My Shadow” (1927), which has been recorded by many singers and used in numerous films and TV shows. Chapter 5
This is an allusion to the ancient land of Gilead, known for its pasturelands and spices, which appears numerous times in the Old Testament.
This is an allusion to the Promised Land, described as “a land flowing with milk and honey” in several books in the Old Testament.
This is an allusion to liberation theology, popular in Latin America in the 1950s and 1960s, which mixed Christianity with left-wing ideology and socialism.
The store name is an allusion to a verse from the Old Testament (Isaiah 40:6), reminding people that, unlike God, they possess only a transitory nature. Chapter 6
This is an allusion to the Puritans, who were Protestants who left England in the early seventeenth century and settled in present-day New England.
This quote contains several allusions: The doctors marked by a fetus allude to doctors who performed legal abortions. The term “angel makers” alludes to women in Scandinavian countries who adopted unwanted babies for payment (also called “baby farmers” in other parts of Europe); many of these “adopted” babies were neglected and died or were even murdered.
This is an allusion to ancient Islamic law, which states in the Quran that one woman is insufficient to provide incriminating testimony against another person and that her word must be supplemented by that of another woman. Chapter 7
This is an allusion to Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus (1592) and reflects words spoken by the devil, Mephistopheles, with a slight alteration (“Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it.”)
This is an allusion to a censorship practice of burning books and reading materials, which has occurred throughout history, notably in Nazi Germany. Chapter 8
This is an allusion to the character of Big Brother from George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 (1949), whose slogan is “Big Brother is watching you.”
This is an allusion to the H. G. Wells’s science fiction novel The Shape of Things to Come (1933), which chronicles the development and overthrow of a future worldwide dictatorship.
This is an allusion to a verse from the book of Luke (23:34) in the New Testament that relates how Jesus, with his dying breath, asks God to forgive his executioners. Chapter 10
This an allusion to the popular Christian hymn “Amazing Grace,” but Offred alters the last line, which actually says, “Was blind but now I see.” This an allusion to the popular Christian hymn “Amazing Grace,” but Offred alters the last line, which actually says, “Was blind but now I see.”
This is an allusion to Elvis Presley’s song “Heartbreak Hotel” (1956), with slight alterations to the lyrics. Chapter 11
This is an allusion to a verse from the Old Testament (Genesis 30:1), referencing Rachel’s words to Jacob when she was unable to become pregnant. In the biblical context, Rachel is telling Jacob that he should get her maid pregnant and then Rachel will claim the child as her own.
This is an allusion to the Bible, which states in several books that one witness is insufficient to accuse a man of a crime. Chapter 12
This is an allusion to Paul the Apostle’s decree in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 11:3–7) that a woman must cover her head when worshipping, and if a woman refuses to do so, her hair must be shorn.
This is an allusion to Matthew (5:5) in the New Testament.
This is an allusion to the film Hiroshima, Mon Amour (1959), based on a book by French writer Marguerite Duras, in which a French woman who had sexual relations with a German soldier during World War II was later shamed by having her head shaved in public. Chapter 13
This is an allusion to the ballet Les Sylphides (1909), which was one of the first ballets to lack plot and instead focus on mood as represented by female sylphs (imaginary spirits of the air) and one male dancer. Chapter 14
This is an allusion to the nursery rhyme that begins with the line “Will you walk into my parlor? said the spider to the fly” and depicts the spider’s successful effort to entrap the fly in its web.
This is an allusion to the Song of Solomon (2:1) from the Old Testament, in which a bride refers to herself as a “lily of the valley.”
This is an allusion to the song “Church in the Wildwood,” which was written about a church in a valley near Bradford, Iowa, in 1857; the song has since been sung and recorded by country and bluegrass singers.
This is an allusion to Ham, who was cursed by his father Noah in Genesis in the Old Testament. Ham’s children later came to be viewed as black-skinned, providing justification for racism and the enslavement of Africans. This allusion indicates that Gilead is resettling African-Americans away from the rest of society.
This is an allusion to “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” the opening song from the musical Oklahoma!, first performed in 1943. Chapter 15
The italicized lines are allusions to stories and verses from the book of Genesis in the Old Testament that focus on having children.
This is an allusion to the Beatitudes—eight blessings described by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount that focus on spirituality and compassion—which are recorded in the books of Matthew (5:3–12) and Luke (6:20–22) in the New Testament; the blessing upon the silent is not actually in the Bible.
This is an allusion to a verse from Genesis (30:18) in the Old Testament and explains Leah’s belief that God allowed her to conceive another son for her husband, Jacob, since she gave her servant to him.
This is an allusion to a verse in the second book of Chronicles (16:9) in the Old Testament, which analyzes Jerusalem’s military victory with the help of God. Chapter 16
This is an allusion to the rumored advice Queen Victoria gave to her daughter to help her understand that the payoff for having unwanted sex is having children. Chapter 17
This is an allusion to Rachel and Leah, sisters who were the wives of Jacob in the Bible. Jacob preferred Rachel to Leah, so God prevented Rachel from getting pregnant, and eventually Rachel gave her servant to Jacob to conceive children as her surrogate. Their story is told in Genesis in the Old Testament.
This is an allusion to Clement Clarke Moore’s poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” popularly known as “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Chapter 19
This is an allusion to a verse from the first book of Corinthians (13:13) in the New Testament, which names faith, hope, and charity (in some biblical translations, charity is defined as “love”) as the key virtues associated with Christian theology and salvation.
This is an allusion to a group of Christian hermits, known as the Desert Fathers (and Desert Mothers), who valued self-denial. During the third century, they renounced society and went to live in the desert near Egypt.
This is an allusion to the handprints left behind by Hindu widows who practiced a now-banned custom called suttee, in which widows burned themselves to death on the funeral pyres of their dead husbands.
This is an allusion to a verse from Genesis in the Old Testament (3:16) in which God says women will have pain in childbirth and in the following verse says that a woman is subordinate to her husband. Chapter 20
This is an allusion to a slogan that was common among socialists but made popular by Karl Marx after he included it in an 1875 publication.
This is an allusion to a verse in Matthew (5:11) in the New Testament, which is part of the Beatitudes, the eight blessings described by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount that focus on spirituality and compassion. The quotation and its meaning have been altered from the original. Chapter 24
This is an allusion to World War II and the German concentrations camps where Jews and other prisoners were exterminated by the Nazis. Chapter 25
This is an allusion to the Victorian-era British poet Lord Alfred Tennyson. One of his well-known longer poems is “Maud,” which is set in an English country garden. Chapter 27
The store name “Loaves and Fishes” alludes to different stories told in the New Testament, referring to two miracles Christ performed when he fed thousands of people with just a few loaves of bread and a few fish. The store name “Daily Bread” is an allusion to the Lord’s Prayer, which according to the New Testament is the prayer Jesus taught his followers.
This is an allusion to two murals created by the painter John Singer Sargent, Death and Victory and Entering the War, both of which commemorate Harvard soldiers who died in World War I. Chapter 28
This is an allusion to the Book of Job in the Old Testament, in which God forces his loyal follower, Job, to suffer in order to test his faith.
This is an allusion to the American $1 bill, which was designed in 1957; it features President George Washington on one side, the Great Seal of the United States (a pyramid with the Eye of Providence, also known as the all-seeing eye of God) on the reverse side, and the official motto of the United States.
This is an allusion to Lord Alfred Tennyson’s poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” (1854) about British soldiers who made a heroic but mostly fatal assault during the Crimean War. Chapter 30
This is an allusion to a quote from Shakespeare’s play King Lear, which means that one must accept one’s death.
This is an allusion to a verse in the second book of Chronicles (16:9) in the Old Testament, which analyzes Jerusalem’s military victory with the help of God; the verse has been rephrased and shortened from the biblical verse.
This is an allusion to the daily morning prayer recited by devout Jewish men: “Blessed are you, Lord, our God, ruler of the universe who has not created me a woman.”
This is an allusion to the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” According to the New Testament, Jesus taught his followers the Lord’s Prayer as the way to pray.
This is an allusion to a line in the Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father: “Give us this day our daily bread.” According to the New Testament, Jesus taught his followers the Lord’s Prayer as the way to pray.
This is an allusion to a line in the Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father: “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” According to the New Testament, Jesus taught his followers the Lord’s Prayer as the way to pray.
This is an allusion to a line in the Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father: “And do not bring us into temptation.” According to the New Testament, Jesus taught his followers the Lord’s Prayer as the way to pray.
This is an allusion to the book of Genesis in the Old Testament, when Eve and Adam ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and lost their state of innocence. This is an allusion to a line in the Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father: “rescue us from evil.” According to the New Testament, Jesus taught his followers the Lord’s Prayer as the way to pray.
This is an allusion to a line in the Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father: “For the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours forever.” According to the New Testament, Jesus taught his followers the Lord’s Prayer as the way to pray.
This is an allusion to the Irving Berlin ballad “All Alone” (1924), which was recorded many times over the decades. Chapter 31
This is an allusion to the practice in Nazi Germany of making Jews wear the yellow star of David on their clothing.
This is an allusion to the Jewish people: Jacob, whose story is told in Genesis in the Old Testament, is considered the patriarch of Israel, and his 12 sons became the founders of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Chapter 32
This is an allusion to a sacrificial practice of the Aztecs—the culture that flourished in Mesoamerica from the 1300s through 1521—in which the hearts of the still-living victims were extracted as an offering to the gods. Chapter 33
This is an allusion to the caps Dutch milkmaids once wore, made famous by a Vermeer painting from the 1600s, which resembled those of the Handmaids.
This is an allusion to President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963. Chapter 34
This quote contains two allusions. “Is there no balm in Gilead?” is a line in Jeremiah in the Old Testament (8:22). The balm of Gilead is a tree that grew in Gilead during biblical times, and its substance was used to make medicinal perfumes. “There Is a Balm in Gilead” is the title of a traditional African-American spiritual.
This is an allusion to verses in the New Testament (1 Timothy 2:9–15) that concern the role and conduct of women. Chapter 35
This is an allusion to the First Epistle of John, told in the New Testament, in which John says, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8).
This is an allusion to the Russian refugees who fled the country after the Russian Revolution and Civil War in the early 1900s because they opposed the new political regime. Chapter 37
This is an allusion to a Playboy “bunny suit,” the kind worn by waitresses at a Playboy Club, one of a chain of nightclubs owned by Hugh Hefner, who founded the men’s magazine Playboy. Chapter 38
This is an allusion to a biblical female figure, in the New Testament’s Book of Revelation, who symbolizes sexuality and evil and is said to have represented a “great city.”
This is an allusion to the Underground Railroad, a network of safe houses that smuggled escaped African-American slaves to freedom in the northern United States and Canada.
This is an allusion to Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab of Israel, who prevented the worship of the Hebrew god, Yahweh (1 Kings, Old Testament). Originally Jezebel was associated with false prophets, but she is now associated with promiscuous, ruthless women. Chapter 39
This is an allusion to the fairy tale Cinderella. Chapter 41
This is an allusion to a statement by French philosopher René Descartes, “I think, therefore I am,” which appears in Discourse on the Method (1637). According to Descartes, the act of doubting one’s own existence proves that one exists. Chapter 42
This is an allusion to the poem “For Whom the Bell Tolls” written by English poet John Donne. Chapter 43
This is an allusion to the verses of the Old Testament that describe different punishments surrounding illicit sexual relationships between men and women. Deuteronomy 22:29 says that a man who rapes a virgin who is not betrothed must marry her instead of being put to death. Chapter 45
This is an allusion to the central Christian belief that Jesus died for the sins of others: “He died that we might live.” Historical Notes on The Handmaid’s Tale
This is an allusion to two Hindu deities: Krishna is a major god connected with music and dance, while Kali is the divine protector and goddess of creativity and destruction.
This is an allusion to the ultimately unsuccessful Warsaw Ghetto Uprising that took place in 1943 when the 60,000 Jews revolted and refused to surrender to the Nazis who were attempting to enter the ghetto to deport them to concentration camps. More than 10,000 Jews died, and the remaining were sent to the camps.
This is an allusion to William Wordsworth’s preface to his Lyrical Ballads (1798), in which he writes, “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.”
This is an allusion to the practice of polygamy followed by men in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the mid-1800s; the practice was banned in 1904.
This is an allusion to the story in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament about Rachel and Leah, the wives of Jacob. While Leah bore Jacob children, Rachel had her servant sleep with Jacob, and then she raised the progeny as her own. The twelve sons of Jacob became the founders of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
This is an allusion to the Greek myth regarding Eurydice. After Eurydice died, her husband, Orpheus, journeyed to the Underworld, where the god Hades agreed to let Eurydice return to the land of the living on the condition that Orpheus walk in front of her and not look back until they were in the land of the living. However, Orpheus did not keep this bargain, and Eurydice disappeared back into the Underworld. |