Comparative Perspectives (DP IB English A: Language and Literature: HL): Revision Note

• Winston, the protagonist, has to relinquish the past and previous versions of truth and reality in an oppressive totalitarian society

• Offred, as the protagonist, is forced to relinquish all knowledge of her past in order to accept the new status quo in authoritarian, evangelical Gilead

• In the context of 1984, the “Party” of Oceania tries to restructure the way people are allowed to think about their world

• The citizens of Oceania are indoctrinated into an alternative version of history that fits with the Party’s political narrative

• In the context of The Handmaid’s Tale, the regime tries to control not only the lives but also the thoughts of the Handmaids

• Handmaids are indoctrinated in the “Red Centre”, where any form of resistance is violently repressed

• Sexual and romantic relationships are allowed only as a means for procreation

• Female sexuality is taboo

• Women are divided according to reproductive ability

• Females are restricted to domestic roles and their personal identities (such as their names) are removed

• Orwell’s protagonist, Winston Smith, lives in a world of constant surveillance, via telescreens, the “Thought Police” and a network of spies

• Language is a tool of oppression:

  • The government in 1984 controls its citizens by reducing the English language to “Newspeak”

• Offred’s paranoia is a result of surveillance which is used as a form of social control (via the “Eyes”)

• Control is maintained by fear: threats of being deported to the Colonies or hanged suppress resistance

• Offred and the other Handmaids are not allowed to form friendships, and conversations are restricted to prescribed greetings and sayings

• Winston actively tries to find out more about the real past by seeking out information and objects from the past

• Winston outwardly conforms to the regime, but begins to keep a secret diary for his thoughts

• Winston engages in an outlawed relationship with Julia

• While obeying societal rules for self-preservation, Offred’s inner dialogue and memories helps her to resist the new reality

• Offred engages with risky relationships with Nick and the commander 

• Winston Smith is a feeble, yet intelligent member of the “Outer Party”

• He struggles to maintain his identity and free thought under the  oppressive authoritarian regime, Oceania

• Offred is a passive, sympathetic protagonist

• As a fertile woman, she is reduced to a vessel for reproduction

• She must strive to maintain a sense of identity under the theocracy of Gilead

• Orwell’s 1984 can be considered a warning about the dangers of authoritarianism

• He offers a critique on unchecked technological advances and the manipulation of truth to control a population

• Atwood aims to caution against a society that restricts women’s freedoms, particularly in terms of reproductive rights

• Her novel warns of the dangers of totalitarianism and evangelical fundamentalism 

• While some critics considered it a dull polemic, it received immediate acclaim

• It has become synonymous with warnings about the danger of restricted free speech

• Contemporary dystopian author Aldous Huxley praised the novel but considered its vision of the future naïve:

  • Huxley believed future authoritarianism would be carried out in more effective ways

• On publication, Atwood’s novel was considered a cynical yet realistic social commentary

• It became a key political and feminist text

• Her characterisation of Offred was critiqued as a passive, yet resistant survivor of patriarchal extremes

• The novel was adapted into a television series in 2017

• Through the third person narrative, the reader has easier access to a broader perspective, but less empathy with the protagonist

• The limited narrative perspective serves, at times, to reflect Winston’s sense of isolation and paranoia

• Atwood crafts a surreal mood through the subjective first person narrator, presenting experiences that are blurred with memories 

• Offred’s limited perspective offers readers a fragmented story that highlights her fear and trauma resulting from past events

• The tone shifts between hope and despair, reflecting Offred’s struggle to maintain sanity 

• Orwell’s novel is set in a fictionalised London and was published in the context of the post-war period of the 1940s

• The fictional nation of Oceania is a surveillance state, characterised as machine-led and colourless

• Winston’s apartment “Victory Mansions” is claustrophobic and poorly maintained

• Atwood sets her novel in Gilead, based in Massachusetts, a real American city in the near-future:

  • Domestic settings are functional and minimalist

• She describes an America suffering environmental ruin

  • “Colonies” and “Homelands”, in which there are limited resources, are used for segregation and exile

• Winston’s hard life is described through his appearance: “his skin” is “roughened by coarse soap and blunt razor blades”:

  • He has a “varicose ulcer” on his leg

• Julia is repeatedly described as a “dark-haired girl”, perhaps hinting at her threatening, dissident characterisation: 

  • She wears a “scarlet sash”, an “aggressive symbol of chastity”

• The Handmaids are given names that signify they are owned by men:

  • Offred is the property of Fred, for instance

• Atwood uses character’s actions to illustrate tension and paranoia: 

  • Women fidget, or know they should not fidget 

  • They smoke to relieve tension

  • Ofglen bows her head, presenting her sad meekness

• The commander’s scrabble games are indicative of boredom and controlled intimacy 

• Allusions to nursery rhymes and fairytales reflect an innocent past:

  • Mr. Charrington sings “Oranges and lemons”

  • An orator is described as a “Rumpelstiltskin” figure 

• Literary references reflect the destruction of art and culture:

  • Winston wakes up with “Shakespeare on his lips”

• Allusions to the Garden of Eden are made when Winston describes a beautiful landscape called the “Golden Country”

• Allusions to the Salem Witch Trials are made by setting Gilead in Massachusetts

• Atwood’s novel emphasises the oppressive theocratic rule in Gilead with allusions to the Christian bible, particularly the Old Testament

• Literary references serve as reminders of a cultural past:

  • For instance, Shakespeare’s Henry V (“Whore of Babylon”), Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Red Shoes”, and Alfred Tennyson’s poem Charge of the Light Brigade (“Ours is not to reason why”)

• The “Telescreen”, a two-way television, delivers propaganda and keeps surveillance of the city, serving to represent technology used to control

• Posters of “Big Brother” are symbolic of propaganda and a surveillance state

• A glass paperweight with coral inside is found in Mr. Charrington’s shop, a reminder of a past natural world 

• Colour divides women according to their marital and reproductive roles and status:

• The “Handmaids” wear red, which may symbolise blood and fertility, as well as the threat they represent

• The “Wives” wear blue, a symbol of the Virgin Mary and immaculate conception

• The “Eye” symbolises constant surveillance, presented as “the eyes of the Lord”:

  • This is illustrated by the recurring phrase "Under His Eye" as a form of greeting

• Control via the loss of individual identity is illustrated by the image of “Big Brother” on everything from coins to stamps to cigarette packs:

  • Winston thinks: “Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull”

• Winston’s fatalism about rebellion equating to death is reflected in his words “We are the dead”

• Individual resistance against oppression is presented in Julia’s words: “They can make you say anything – anything – but they can’t make you believe it. They can’t get inside you”

• The regime’s control over women is signified by uniformity and a removal of identity:

  • Offred describes her world: “Everything except the wings around my face is red: the colour of blood, which defines us”

• The need to remember the past is presented as a form of rebellion and survival:

  • Offred says of her old name: “I keep the knowledge of this name like something hidden, some treasure I’ll come back to dig up, one day”

• Individual resistance is described as an inner strength:

  • Offred says: “Remember that forgiveness too is a power. To beg for it is a power, and to withhold or bestow it is a power”

• Winston struggles to maintain freedom of expression and thought in the politically corrupt dystopian Oceania

• His fears of being detected by the “Thought Police” in a surveillance state makes him paranoid 

• Hamlet descends into paranoia after the murder of his father

• He fears being spied upon by Polonius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern

• He struggles to maintain his sanity and morality in the politically corrupt court

• The three-part structure follows Winston Smith's rebellion and eventual submission to a dictatorship

• The exposition establishes a world without privacy and under constant surveillance 

• Winston’s fear and paranoia worsens as he attempts to rebel

• By the end, Winston submits under extreme psychological torture

• Shakespeare’s revenge tragedy illustrates the consequences of moral and political corruption

• The play’s opening sets up themes of treachery:

  • The ghost of Hamlet’s murdered father appears on the castle’s battlements

• Hamlet’s desire for revenge leads to inner turmoil

• The tragedy ends in the deaths of all the characters 

• Orwell’s protagonist struggles to resist authoritarian restrictions

• His society hides past truths, distorts language, and engineers human psychology for control

• Winston fights the post-truth world while constantly fearing arrest

• Shakespeare’s protagonist feels it is his duty to right the wrongs in his environment 

• The disorder created by regicide and political corruption tests his morality and sanity

• Hamlet attempts to find the truth within an environment of deceit and distrust

• Orwell warns against technological advances and propaganda used to control a population

• His novel reflects post-war and Cold War concerns about surveillance and authoritarianism

• Shakespeare reflects political instability in Elizabethan England

• His play depicts the suspicion and uncertainty of the era

• Hamlet mirrors fears about political ambition and succession

• He raises ideas about regicide and disorder in the monarchy

• The novel was critiqued as an instructive book, necessary for a post-truth world

• Today’s reader may view the social context of 1984 as a prophetic exploration of the rise of social media and the internet

• Thеmеs of usurpation, regicide, and the moral responsibilities of lеadеrs rеsonatеd with thе political climatе of thе timе

• The play was understood as a revenge tragedy, popular in thе 16th and 17th cеnturiеs

• Orwell uses an omniscient narrator to offer political critique

• The limited third-person perspective creates a claustrophobia that reflects Winston’s environment and his state of mind

• Hamlеt's soliloquies reveal his intеrnal moral strugglе, paranoia, and his contemplation of thе consеquеncеs of his actions

• Dialogue frequently gives audiences information thе majority of charactеrs rеmain ignorant to:

  • The creation of  dramatic irony illustrates deceit and treachery in the court

• 1984 is set in Oceania, an authoritarian futuristic  world 

• Surveillance by the “telescreen” and “Big Brother” dominates 

• The city represents the seat of government:

  • Ministries are given absurd names that distort truth 

  • The “Ministry of Truth” is the hub for propaganda, and the “Ministry of Peace” encourages war

• The dark castle of Elsinore reflects a place of political corruption

• It is described as an “unweeded garden” and a place of rot

• Curtains and tapestries represent spying and deceit in the castle

• Hamlet describes Denmark as a “prison”

• Winston’s writing in his journals reveal his fear: “theyll shoot me i dont care theyll shoot me in the back of the neck” 

• Narration reveals the tension amongst the citizens: “A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety”

• Descriptions of appearance aids characterisation: O’ Brien has a “brutal” face

• Through character’s actions and dialogue, Shakespeare depicts an environment of distrust 

• Dialogue reveals character’s emotions, such as when Ophelia describes Hamlet as “pale as his shirt”

• Hamlet's paranoia and turmoil is revealed via soliloquies, such as in the famous line: "To be or not to be”

• Allusions to Stalin are found in the heavily-moustached face of “Big Brother” posters

• Orwell likely alludes to the Hitler Youth in references to the “Youth League” and “Spies”

• Shakespeare’s ghost refers to a “serpent”, alluding to treachery in the Garden of Eden

• Polonius refers to acting as Julius Caesar, who was betrayed and killed

• The “Telescreen”, a two-way television, keeps surveillance of the city

• The rats that terrorise Winston are symbolic of betrayal:

  • Julia describes them as “all over the place”

  • O’Brien tells Winston: “They are a form of pressure that you cannot withstand

• Thе play within a play is symbolic of thе uncovеring of dеcеption

• Thе motif of poison highlights thе thеmе of deception and bеtrayal:

  • The poisoned “chalice” symbolisеs thе treacherous nature of thе court and the consequences of dеcеit

• Winston reveals the ever-present fear of revealing his feelings: “Your worst enemy, he reflected, was your own nervous system”

• Winston’s paranoia is described as a feeling of being haunted by “the fear that a black-uniformed guard would suddenly appear from round the corner”

• The poster of “Big Brother” has “eyes” that follow you about when you move”

• Hamlet describes his environment as untrustworthy: “That one may smile and smile and be a villain./ At least I’m sure it may be so in Denmark” 

• Polonius instigates plotting behind a tapestry:

  • He tells Claudius: “Be you and I behind an arras then”

• In prose that reflects Hamlet’s turmoil he tells Guildenstern: “Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me”

The conflict between the individual and a politically corrupt environment

Things Fall Apart 

Both protagonists rail against societies taken over by destructive political forces 

Winston Smith’s environment is a dystopian, authoritarian world, while Okonkwo’s Nigerian village is taken over by colonial forces

Orwell warns against corrupted societies that psychologically impact an individual 

A Streetcar Named Desire

Both writers challenge societies that are based on illusion and a distorted reality

Orwell warns against a future under authoritarianism and constant surveillance, while Williams critiques class conflicts in the 1940s American South

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is unsure who to trust; his fatal flaw is his uncertainty about those close to him

Othello

Both plays employ protagonists who cannot trust friends and family

Hamlet’s distrust of everyone around him leads to his tragedy, while Othello’s trust of Iago leads to his suicide 

Orwell’’s novel was (and still is) considered a seminal political satire 

The Great Gatsby

Both texts are acclaimed as key commentaries on a corrupted, decaying society

Orwell’s audiences consider 1984 an instructional, dystopian novel for a post-truth future world, while Fitzgerald’s audiences consider The Great Gatsby a keystone of modernist fiction that describes the Jazz Age