Date of Award
5-2024
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Academic Program
English BA
Department
English
First Advisor
Katherine Cochran, Ph.D.
Advisor Department
English
Abstract
This thesis analyzes two texts: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and When She Woke by Hillary Jordan. These two texts examine dystopian worlds in which the lines are blurred, or completely eradicated, between church and state. Christian fundamentalism and/or evangelicalism becomes intertwined with Christian extremism which results in a detrimental society for many minority groups. The purpose of this thesis is to specifically explore the ways women are mistreated in these societies.
Moreover, this thesis explains how America’s puritanical Christian roots have led to modern-day ideals of America as a “New Jerusalem”. America, like the dystopian societies, has intertwined fundamentalism and evangelicalism with extremism, particularly in the political sphere. Current events show a trend amongst Conservative male politicians to use Christian values to influence their votes. Throughout this thesis, connections are shown between issues presented in the dystopian societies in The Handmaid’s Tale and When She Woke and in America today to portray how dystopian literature reflects contemporary issues.
Copyright
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Recommended Citation
Briscoe, Jessica, "Religious Extremism and Female Autonomy: How Dystopian Literature Reflects Contemporary Issues" (2024). Honors Theses. 981.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/981
Included in
Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons