“There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom from and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom. Now you are given freedom from” (Atwood 24). The Handmaid's Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, is a novel set in a near future where social roles have severely changed. The most notable change is that affecting women. While, in the past, women have gained rights and gained more “freedom to,” women in The Handmaid's Tale society have “freedom to.” They have the freedom to suffer abuse and have sexist comments shouted at them by strangers. While this may seem like a safer society, all the “safety” comes at a drastic cost. Atwood depicts a dystopia in The Handmaid's Tale through totalitarian rule and the systematic oppression and dehumanization of women by patriarchy. Atwood was born on November 18, 1939 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. His father was a forest entomologist who conducted research for the government and because of this their family lived every year from November to April in the wilderness of northern Quebec. Although Atwood had already begun writing by this point, she says she was told that "there were five things a girl could be: nurse, teacher, airline stewardess, typist, and home economist" (Margaret). This discrimination may have helped her become a feminist. Atwood's feminist perspective contributed to the feminist dystopia she created in The Handmaid's Tale. Atwood's writing was also influenced by the mythical and biblical imagery used in the writings of Northrop Frye, a noted critic with whom he studied during college. Atwood's first published novel, The Edible Woman, written in 1969, cast her as a feminist writer, ...... center of paper ...... Matthew J. "CRITICAL CONTEXTS: "This Is The Way The World Ends": Margaret Atwood and the dystopian impulse." Critical Insights: The Handmaid's Tale (2010): 59-73. Literary reference center. Network. December 11, 2013Cooper, Pamela. “Sexual Surveillance and Medical Authority in Two Versions of the Handmaid's Tale.” Journal of Popular Culture 28.4 (1995): 49-66. Literary reference center. Network. December 12, 2013Feuer, Lois. “The Calculus of Love and Nightmare: The Handmaid's Tale and Dystopian Tradition.” Criticism 38.2 (1997): 83. Literary Reference Center. Network. December 9, 2013. "Margaret Atwood." Newsmaker. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Biography in context. Network. December 13, 2013. Stein, Karen F. “CRITICAL READINGS: The Handmaid's Tale: Scheherazade In Dystopia” by Margaret Atwood. Critical Insights: The Handmaid's Tale (2010): 261-275. Literary reference center. Network. December 10. 2013.