The Commander's Wife

The Commander's Wife

Quotes

Purpose

Specific Individuals

• To look good while hanging on her husband's arm; she needs to make him look good

• Made to make speeches

“This garden is the domain of the Commander’s Wife. Looking out through my shatterproof window I’ve often seen her in it, her knees on a cushion, a light blue veil thrown over her wide gardening hat, a basket at her side with shears in it and pieces of string for tying the flowers into place. A Guardian detailed to the Commander does the heavy digging; the Commander’s Wife directs, pointing with her stick. Many of the Wives have such gardens, it’s something for them to order and maintain and care for” (Attwood 12).

a. This quote shows how the Commander’s Wives struggle to find a purpose, since they cannot have children. Due to their infertility, the Commander’s Wives cannot fulfill their families desire to have children, and this void makes them feel empty, so they find things, such as gardening to distract them form their inability.

Serena Joy

• “ Or she stays in the sitting room, knitting away at her endless angle scarves, turning out more and more yards of intricate and useless wool people; her form of procreation, it must be”(154).

• She feels left out from the ability to have children and fills this void by knitting, a pastime of hers that distracts her from the current situation she is in.

• “ ‘I was thinking of Nick,’ she says, and her voice is almost a soft. ‘He’s been with us a long time. He’s loyal. I could fix it with him" (205).

• This shows how she depends on Nick as her connection to the handmaids, which is vital to fulfill her want/need for a child.

Commander’s wife

• “The commander’s wife hurries in, in her ridiculous white cotton nightgown, her spindly legs sticking out beneath it. Two of the wives in their blue dresses and veils hold her by the arms, as if she needs it" (125).

• The commander’s wife is pretending to give birth while Jeanine, their handmaid, is giving birth. This action shows how she desires for more than just being given a child, she wants that connection to the child and her husband.

Quotes

"The commander's wife hurries in, in her ridiculous white cotton nightgown, her spindly legs sticking out beneath it. Two of the wives in their blue dresses and veils hold her by the arms, as if she needs it" (125).

a. The commander's wife is pretending to give birth while Jeanine, their handmaid, is giving birth. This action shows how she desires for meore than just being given a child, she wants that connection to the child and her husband.

"Even at her age she still feels the urge to wreathe herself in flowers. No use for you, I think at her, my face unmoving, you can't use them anymore, you're withered. They're the genital organs of plants. I read that somewhere once" (81-82).

a. Flowers act as a foil to the commander's wives. The fertility and vivacity of the flowers contrast to the sterility and dullness found in the commander's wife. Thus the wives feel the need to surround themselves with the flowers to compensate for their inability to have children and the emptiness this brings them.