การต่อสู้ดิ้นรน การต่อต้าน และ อิสรภาพของผู้หญิงในภาพยนตร์และนวนิยายเรื่อง เดอะ แฮนด์เมดส์ เทล

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore and analyze the differences in terms of struggles, resistance and freedom of the main female characters between Volker Schlondorff’s film adaptation The Handmaid’s Tale and the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, using the concepts of Liberal Feminism, Women and Catholicism, Deconstruction, and Mise-en-scene. From the results of the study, it can be concluded that the storylines between the film adaptation and the novel are similar where female characters all encounter religious, political objectification and each one of them has their ways of shutting it out, whereas certain plot developments and the endings are different between the two media due to the degree of how the main female characters express their struggles, resistance, and freedom. Liberal Feminism and Women and Catholicism are used to investigate, both in the film and the novel, the storylines, the characters, the actions, and the dialogues, and elaborate the according situation of women to create a clearer understanding of how the main female characters are oppressed. Deconstructionism helps explore the possible hidden meanings of each main character and their actions and how they can be interpreted as defiance or resistance, while mise-en-scene deals with the visual elements of the film which help to indicate the changes the film makes on the story, such as the point of view and the relationships between characters, and thus have impacts on the main female characters and the final outcome. This study will help to strengthen and create more awareness on women’s issues and rights reflected in both the film adaptation and the novel, especially those concerning personal decisions and women’s right to reproductivity.