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Quiz about The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood
Quiz about The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood

'The Handmaid's Tale' by Margaret Atwood Quiz


Margaret Atwood's classic dystopia is pretty much my favourite book, and I hope you will find out some new things about it if you take this quiz. Have fun!

A multiple-choice quiz by Frideswide. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
Frideswide
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
113,031
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
11 / 15
Plays
2321
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 167 (11/15), Guest 88 (4/15), Luckycharm60 (14/15).
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Question 1 of 15
1. 'The Handmaid's Tale' was written in which year? Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. The book's title format makes an implicit reference to which famous English author? Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. The book has several epigraphs, one of which establishes the biblical precedent for Handmaids. Which book of the Bible does it come from? Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. The Handmaids in the book all have patronymics, meaning that they take their names from the men to whom they are assigned. The chief character is called Offred; what is therefore the name of the Commander in whose household she lives?

Answer: (One word; 'of' whom?))
Question 5 of 15
5. Each of the different types of women in Gilead have to wear clothes of a particular colour. Handmaids have to wear red, and the Wives have to wear blue. What is the name of the women who wear green? Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. And the name for those assigned to poorer men who wear striped clothes of many colours? Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. In a play on words typical of Offred, she turns a well-known saying on its head and asks 'I am not wasted, why do I ____?'

Answer: ('waste not...')
Question 8 of 15
8. True or false: Offred had a husband and child in her pre-Gilead life.


Question 9 of 15
9. 'Gender treachery', for which individuals can be put to death and hung on the Wall, is the Gilead name for which crime? Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. Offred discovers a heroic message scratched into the wardrobe by her tragic predecessor at the Commander's house. It is written in Latin as 'nolite te bastardes carborundorum', but what is its translation? Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. One of several twisted quotations found in the book is that illustrating the injunction for Handmaids not to read and write - 'Pen Is Envy'. Of course, this has been adapted from the phrase 'penis envy' popularised by which philosopher? Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. "There is more than one kind of freedom... Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it." Which character tells the Handmaids this? Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. Offred's friend Moira was a rebel in the pre-Gilead days and also in the Red Centre where Handmaids were trained. What was the patronymic of another rebel Handmaid whom Offred meets whilst at the Commander's house?

Answer: ((from Glen's household))
Question 14 of 15
14. By the end of Offred's story, has she succeeded in having the baby she so desperately needs to escape classification as an 'Unwoman' and banishment to the Colonies?


Question 15 of 15
15. And finally, in the 'Historical Notes' we are told the symposium on Offred's diaries is being conducted in 'Denay, Nunavut'. This is usually interpreted as Atwood's pun on which four word phrase?

Answer: ((say the location out loud!))

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Most Recent Scores
Mar 27 2024 : Guest 167: 11/15
Mar 25 2024 : Guest 88: 4/15
Mar 24 2024 : Luckycharm60: 14/15
Mar 18 2024 : Guest 216: 10/15
Mar 18 2024 : Guest 82: 10/15
Mar 10 2024 : shorthumbz: 13/15
Mar 07 2024 : Guest 208: 12/15
Mar 05 2024 : Pruner: 13/15
Feb 26 2024 : Guest 90: 7/15

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. 'The Handmaid's Tale' was written in which year?

Answer: 1985

When writing the book, Margaret Atwood was inspired not only by the sexist reproduction policies of the Nazis and the ethics of America's Bible Belt, but also the shocking tactics used in Ceaucescu's Romania to increase the birth rate. She kept a folder of news clippings throughout the early 1980s in order to give her book a genuine grounding in real-life issues.
2. The book's title format makes an implicit reference to which famous English author?

Answer: Chaucer

Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' include such sub-sections as 'The Wife of Bath's Tale' and 'The Knight's Tale'.
3. The book has several epigraphs, one of which establishes the biblical precedent for Handmaids. Which book of the Bible does it come from?

Answer: Genesis

The passage is Genesis 30 chapters 1 to 3. This section tells of how Rachel's maid Bilhah was used as a concubine by Jacob, and Gilead uses this idea as the basis of its allocation of fertile young women to important families where the wives are childless.
4. The Handmaids in the book all have patronymics, meaning that they take their names from the men to whom they are assigned. The chief character is called Offred; what is therefore the name of the Commander in whose household she lives?

Answer: Fred

The book's epilogue debates the identity of the Commander, but none of the historians can decide exactly who he is from the sketchy historical documents. All we know for sure is that his name was Fred!
5. Each of the different types of women in Gilead have to wear clothes of a particular colour. Handmaids have to wear red, and the Wives have to wear blue. What is the name of the women who wear green?

Answer: Marthas

Cora and Rita are the two Marthas in the Commander's household. Their function is to prepare food and keep the house clean.
6. And the name for those assigned to poorer men who wear striped clothes of many colours?

Answer: Econowives

The Econowives wear multicoloured clothes to represent that, as the wives of poorer men, they must fulfil the many duties of Martha, Handmaid and Wife all at once.
7. In a play on words typical of Offred, she turns a well-known saying on its head and asks 'I am not wasted, why do I ____?'

Answer: want

This refers to 'waste not, want not'. Offred is not being wasted; on the contrary, she is being put to a very specific use by the Republic of Gilead. However, she is treated only as a body and not as a real human being, which is why she still 'wants' for emotional sustenance and intellectual stimulation.
8. True or false: Offred had a husband and child in her pre-Gilead life.

Answer: true

Offred's husband was named Luke; they were separated at a checkpoint when trying to flee Gilead in the early days of the republic. Whilst she does not know if Luke is alive, Offred knows her daughter is living with another family, as Serena Joy shows her a photograph.
9. 'Gender treachery', for which individuals can be put to death and hung on the Wall, is the Gilead name for which crime?

Answer: Homosexuality

Gender traitors are hung on the Wall and dressed in pink. Other crimes for which people are executed and displayed include being of illegal religious affiliations (such as Jehovah's Witnesses or Jews).
10. Offred discovers a heroic message scratched into the wardrobe by her tragic predecessor at the Commander's house. It is written in Latin as 'nolite te bastardes carborundorum', but what is its translation?

Answer: Don't let the bastards grind you down

Offred finds out that, like her, her predecessor had an illicit 'out of hours' relationship with the Commander. The former Offred wrote this defiant message, but we find out later in the book that she eventually committed suicide.
11. One of several twisted quotations found in the book is that illustrating the injunction for Handmaids not to read and write - 'Pen Is Envy'. Of course, this has been adapted from the phrase 'penis envy' popularised by which philosopher?

Answer: Freud

Austrian philosopher Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) theorised that women were neurotic, and envied the male phallus. Since Gilead was obsessed with sexual politics this is an ideal quotation for it to have appropriated.
12. "There is more than one kind of freedom... Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it." Which character tells the Handmaids this?

Answer: Aunt Lydia

Aunt Lydia is one of the cattle prod-armed Aunts who officiate at the Red Centre. She was attempting to persuade the Handmaids that in the new order of Gilead they would be free of many of the problems of twentieth century life, all caused by its profusion of 'choices'.
13. Offred's friend Moira was a rebel in the pre-Gilead days and also in the Red Centre where Handmaids were trained. What was the patronymic of another rebel Handmaid whom Offred meets whilst at the Commander's house?

Answer: Ofglen

Ofglen is one of the most enigmatic characters in the book. She is Offred's lifeline when she reveals herself to be a resistance member, but suddenly disappears and is replaced by a 'new, treacherous Ofglen' in whom Offred can no longer confide. The section where we first meet the new Ofglen when expecting to see Offred's usual friend is one of the most chilling in the book.
14. By the end of Offred's story, has she succeeded in having the baby she so desperately needs to escape classification as an 'Unwoman' and banishment to the Colonies?

Answer: no

Offred's story breaks off at an excruciating moment, as she is taken away from the Commander's house by men who claim to be part of the 'underground', but who could be lying and actually about to take her away for punishment or execution.
15. And finally, in the 'Historical Notes' we are told the symposium on Offred's diaries is being conducted in 'Denay, Nunavut'. This is usually interpreted as Atwood's pun on which four word phrase?

Answer: Deny none of it

The 'Historical Notes' show us a symposium far in the future, in which academics dissect Offred's legacy in what appears to be a cold and unfeeling way, caring little for her suffering. It is also an appropriate phrase for a Canadian such as Atwood, since 'Nunavut' means 'our land' to Canada's Inuit people. I hope you have enjoyed this quiz and done well!
Source: Author Frideswide

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