The Handmaid’s Tale
Character Study – Aunt Lydia
In the Republic of Gilead, Aunt Lydia works in the Red Centre as one of the crack female control agents known as the “Aunts”. There, she works as a propaganda minister, brainwashing the potential Handmaids to be content with their roles within Gilead. Entrusted with such a prestigious job it’s easy to imagine Aunt Lydia to have unequivocal devotion to the Gilead regime – but upon closer inspection, Aunt Lydia’s faith may not be so clear-cut.
For the initial chapters, Aunt Lydia is a hazy character – Offred offers a few of her quotes occasionally in relevant situations, but no description of her appearance or demeanour. The most famous of these quotes is “There is more than one kind of freedom – freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are given freedom from. Don’t underrate it.” Taken at face value, Aunt Lydia means that before Gilead women had the freedom to have promiscuous sex, have abortions, smoke, drink, etcetera, and in Gilead they are given ‘freedom’ from rape, mugging, assault and so on. But could she mean that in the days before Gilead women were given freedom to speak their minds, freedom to express themselves, and so on? At this stage it’s unclear. In Chapter Five, Offred recalls Aunt Lydia’s quote “To be seen – to be seen – is to be penetrated. What you must be, girls, is impenetrable.” This ambiguous statement could mean to be impenetrable from the eyes of strangers, but also to be impenetrable from Gilead’s ways and influences. Another of Aunt Lydia’s ominous quotes is “Some day, when times improve, no one will have to be an Econowife.” This could mean that everyone will enjoy the decadent lifestyles of the Commanders and their Wives, or it could mean that the Gilead period will come to an end and pre-Gilead life will resume.