Speaker
Purpose
 To entertain, inform &
challenge
Atwood
 Attempted to provide
the audience with an
“Spottyentertaining insight
handed
into the portrayal of
villainesse
women, especially
s” 1994
female villains in
novels, short stories
and plays
CANADA  Initially felt it
necessary to outline
the aims of fiction and
the process by which
it is created- purpose
is to explore the scope
and genres of fiction,
answering questions
which are posed by
this area of academic
interest
 Moved on to explore
the pressing issue of
feminisms influence
on literature
 She wishes to inform
and challenge the
views and attitudes of
her audience
 Established the idea
that it was acceptable
to portray some
women as evil in
literature- accurate
reflection of society
Context
Themes
Structure
 Established
Role of Women  Distinctive
herself as a
chronological
in Society
controversial
structure Explores the
writer in Canada,
direction is easy
changing role of
bringing many
to follow
women in society
radical ideas,
– through her
including
investigation of
feminism to the
the portrayal of
centre of political
female characters
discussion
in literature, and
 She campaigned
the changes they
against the
have undergone
oppression of
over time
women and
 Congratulates
pushed for equal
women’s
rights in all
movement for
aspects of life for
expanding the
women
roles of women in
 She is a feminist
literature and
writer, raising
simultaneously
issues of women
society- but she
in literature, the
also criticises
difficulties
them for limiting
associated with
the reality of this
being female &
portrayal
the role of women  Her balanced
in society.
appraisal for the
 Atwood was
benefits and
influential in the
detriments
movement which
feminism has had
began in the
on fictional
1960s & her
female characters
influence is seen
parallels her views
through her
of the impact the
literary works
women’s
Quotes +
Techniques
 Relaxed, humorous
& personal tone &
informal language allows her to
establish rapport
with the audience.
 Personal anecdote –
in the opening of
her speech – allows
her to make a
personal connection
with the audience
whilst introducing
the issue of
literature & the way
it portrays women –
“little girl who had
a curl”.
 Colloquialisms –
make her speech
more accessible to
the audience & the
humour of them is
engaging –
“flogging a few
dead horses”.
Defends herself
from the feminist
stereotype by using
the colloquial term
‘sex bomb’,
feminists would not
use this term.
 Question & answer
technique – “what is
Reception
Original
 Raised some important
issues in the era
following strong
feminist push she was
able to find a balance
between support for the
Women’s Movement
whilst criticising it for
its excesses
 As a result of this
Mature stance, her
speech was respected by
many for addressing the
important issue of
women in society, and
doing it in an
entertaining manner
Modern
 Still valued today
because of its always
topical issue of the role
of women in society –
this theme transcends
time as we see
discrimination within
many aspects of lifegender equality is a long
way from being
achieved
 Still difficulty in
defining women’s role
in society




which consists of ‘the  Not an extreme
murderers, the
feminist
seducers, the
 Her speech raises
espionage agents, the
the issue of the
cheats, the bad
role that women
mothers and the
should take in
stepmothers’ as well
society, looking at
as a plethora of good
it through the
women
portrayal of
Aim appeared to
women in
defend the current
literature
portrayal of both good  This speech was
and bad female
delivered during
characters in fictional
the ongoing clash
works and to
between the
differentiate herself
feminist and the
from the feminist
counter feminist
movement
movementshe explores good &
topical and widely
bad women in
discussed oration
literature & deals
particularly with the
role of women & how
literature portrays
them
She asks for women to
be behaving in a range
of ways in literature
that places them at all
points on the moral
spectrum
Says flawed
characters are
necessary for making
a story believable &
interesting “…create
a flawless character
movement has had
in society
 Advocates that
women should be
free to choose
whether they want
to be seen as good
or bad and it is
wrong to deny
them the right to
have evil in them
 Supports the
portrayal of evil
and good women
in literature ‘we
have not enough
evil in us’ admires the varied
roles females take
on in fiction and
society
Literature
Reflecting
Reality
 Discusses the
relationship
between literature
and reality
 Fundamental
difference is that:
- in literature there
is a requirement
that ‘something
has to happen’require definite
action – plot,
a novel?” & then
she explains how it
should be
constructed.
 Humourous
metaphor &
religious allusion–
compares the job of
a novelist to God’s
task of creating the
world, “one detail
at a time” –
emphasises the
difficulty of writing
& appeals to the
religious beliefs of
the audience.
 Historical & literary
references – allows
her to validate her
points & exploration
about the role of
women & how they
are portrayed in
literature (good &
bad) & the
responder can easily
identify with them –
Cinderella, Sleeping
Beauty, Snow
White, Shakespeare
– Lady Macbeth.
Makes point that
female authors
should not restricted
to using only good
female characters.
 Entertaining approach to
explore this issue
through an analysis of
fictional female
characters in literature –
means her speech is still
widely referred to
throughout the world to
explore gender issues.
 To understand Atwood’s
allusions you need to
have good background
knowledge of the
literature she refers to.
Feminist reading
 Criticised by feminists
for its unfavourable
appraisal of the
Women’s Movement
 Attacked for “selling
out on the cause” & for
failing to recognise the
huge contributions
feminism made to
achieving gender
equality.
 Feminist critics found
her condemnation of the
restrictive nature of the
Women’s Movement as
an unfair depiction of
the situation, claiming
that they are supportive
of all women.
 Many feminist writers
would challenge her
and you create an
insufferable one;
which may be why I’m
interested in spots.”
Audience – various
audience but mainly
educated middle aged
women @ a luncheon
climax to be
engaged in a text.
- In reality we
don’t necessitate
action and are
satisfied with the
absence of the
‘something’ that
we require in
literature- we are
happy with a kind
of ‘eternal
breakfast’ and ‘we
ask for nothing’ to
really happen
 The ideas
discussed in
literature are a
reflection of the
attitudes and
values present in
reality
notions.
 Criticism of the
women’s movement  Atwood’s speech was
through a paradox to
received well by many
illustrate the divide
less extreme feminists
which has been
who reacted well to her
created between
criticisms,
“women who wore
acknowledging that
high-heels and
feminism does
make-up” and
occasionally bring with
“those in overalls”.
it some excesses
 Quote from a
notable historical
figure – Dame
Rebecca West –
“we have not
enough evil in us”.
 Repetition – “novels
are not” –
emphasises her
point.
 Spotty handed
villainess- allusion
to Lady MacBeth –
portrayed as flawed
character – killed
King Duncan with
her husband
Macbeth.
Illustrating the idea
that women can be
bad too.
 Shares her vision of
how women should
be viewed in society
and literature