Glossary

Since it is a dystopia, Margaret Atwood made up a lot of words that are important in her story. These words make sense in the Handmaid’s tale. 

Handmaids (Servantes) are fertile women who bear children for Wives and their Commanders. They wear red.

Wives (Épouses) are married to Commanders. It’s unclear whether they are fertile since they use handmaids to procreate. They were blue.

Commanders (Commandants) are powerful men who use handmaids to procreate with their Wives. They conceived and devised Gilead. It is an entire class of men.

The Aunts (Tantes) is a class of infertile women who are in positions of power. They teach handmaids. They are true believers who were involved with the cause way before the official Gilead transition. They wear brown.

Jezebels (Jezabels) are illegal prostitutes who work in a secret club for Commanders.

Marthas are another kind of servants. They are infertile women who work as caretakers and cook for the family. It is the same name in French. They were green.

Econowives (Éconofemmes) are married to men not powerful enough to become Commanders. It is a working-class. Being an econowife is a sort of reward from society since they were women who exhibited proper behavior pre-Gilead unlike Handmaids. 

Birthmobile (sort of an ambulance rouge) is the transport they use when a handmaid is giving birth. “By the time the Birthmobile arrives in front of the house it’s late afternoon.” p.148

Mayday (M’aidez or au secours) is an underground resistance group. “It was Luke who told me about Mayday though.” p.48

The Eyes (Les Yeux) is short for “Eyes of God”. They are Gilead’s force of spies and secret police. They are feared. Anyone can be an Eye.