AQA A-Level English Literature A Paper 2: Texts in shared contexts (2B), June 2025: Question 16

25 marks · Hard difficulty · Extended Response

Examine the significance of freedom in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, with reference to Aunt Lydia's words comparing 'freedom to' and 'freedom from'.

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Question 16 from an exam paper: "'In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it', says Aunt Lydia to the trainee Handmaids at the Red Centre. Examine the significance of freedom in The Handmaid's Tale. [25 marks]"
Question text

or

16 ‘In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t

underrate it’, says Aunt Lydia to the trainee Handmaids at the Red Centre.

Examine the significance of freedom in The Handmaid’s Tale.

[25 marks]

Mark scheme

Show the mark scheme Mark scheme for Question 16 outlining possible content for Assessment Objectives AO1 to AO5, discussing Aunt Lydia's glossing of freedom, the Gilead regime's totalitarian limits on freedom, the warnings regarding feminist gains, narrative flashbacks, literary conventions of dystopian prose, and relevant structural and linguistic methods.

Question 16

The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood

‘In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate

it’, says Aunt Lydia to the trainee Handmaids at the Red Centre.

Examine the significance of freedom in The Handmaid’s Tale.

[25 marks]

Possible content:

Please refer to pages 4 to 7.

AO5 Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations

Focus might be on:

• that Aunt Lydia’s glossing of the term ‘freedom’ shows how the meaning of words can change in a

dystopian world; language itself becomes unstable as ideas and concepts are recategorised and

redefined

• Atwood’s questioning of the limits of freedom within the totalitarian theocracy of Gilead

• that the novel can be seen as a warning against taking the freedoms won by first- and second-

generation feminists for granted, and that these freedoms are not necessarily permanent

• the ease with which the regime can manipulate the idea of freedom and deprive its citizens of their

rights after the coup against the USA

• the lack of freedom for most inhabitants of the Gileadean regime – the harsh rules and

punishments that limit personal freedom

• narrative flashbacks to the ‘time before’, when people (especially women) enjoyed freedom and

even took it for granted in America, the self-styled ‘Land of the Free’

• that during the ‘Night’ sections of the novel Offred seems to feel some limited type of freedom,

either through returning to past memories or contemplating her present position

• that freedom is so limited in Gilead that even the most privileged members of society, the

Commanders, need to break the rules (eg by setting up and visiting Jezebels)

• that some people refuse to give up their freedom and conform to the new rules, eg the nuns who

voluntarily go to the Colonies rather than becoming handmaids, or the Unwomen, or rebels like

Moira who choose to become Jezebels

• etc.

AO4 Explore connections across literary texts

Focus might be on:

• prose representations of freedom as seen in modern literature, perhaps with a focus on the

dystopian genre

• etc.

AO3 Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which

literary texts are written and received

Focus might be on:

• how Atwood’s presentation of freedom may reveal aspects of the specific social, historical and

cultural contexts of the 1980s and how responses to the theme might suggest changing responses

over time

42• the ways in which narrative methods are an integral part of strengthening the novel’s presentation

of freedom

• etc.

AO2 Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts

Focus might be on:

• aspects of narrative form and genre

• aspects of the ways in which Atwood has structured the text, eg the narrative stance of Offred and

the privileging of her viewpoint

• language effects, eg aspects of dialogue and description

• etc.

AO1 Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated

concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression

• quality of argument

• organisation of ideas

• use of appropriate concepts and terminology

• technical accuracy.

Accept any valid interpretations, any valid comments on contexts and any valid discussion of

authorial methods.

Option 3

Section B: Drama and Poetry Contextual Linking

How to answer it

AQA A-Level English Literature A • Paper 2

The Politics of Freedom in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale

“‘In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate it’, says Aunt Lydia to the trainee Handmaids at the Red Centre.”
Question 16: Examine the significance of freedom in The Handmaid’s Tale. [25 marks]

What This Question Tests

This 25-mark essay question evaluates your ability to produce an authoritative, sustained, and theoretically informed analysis of a central thematic debate across Atwood's novel:

AO1 Argument & Expression: Structuring a cohesive thesis that directly interrogates the semantic and ideological paradoxes of ‘freedom’ using precise academic terminology.
AO2 Authorial Method: Analysing how Atwood uses structural binaries (e.g. Day vs. Night chapters), palimpsestic memory, first-person narrative framing, and linguistic doublespeak.
AO3 Context: Grounding the text in 1980s second-wave vs. anti-feminist backlash (the New Right, Phyllis Schlafly), theocratic fundamentalism, and dystopian literary tradition.
AO5 Critical Interpretations: Engaging with the Berlinian philosophical divide (negative vs. positive liberty) and questioning whether Offred's private psychological rebellion constitutes genuine freedom or passive complicity.

Section 1: Unpacking the Prompt & Theoretical Framing

Deconstructing Aunt Lydia's Rhetoric

💡 Philosophical Dichotomy: Positive vs Negative Liberty

Aunt Lydia’s distinction mirrors philosopher Isaiah Berlin’s famous essay Two Concepts of Liberty (1958):

  • “Freedom To” (Positive Liberty): The autonomy to act upon one’s desires, express identity, own property, and exercise self-determination (the pre-Gilead era).
  • “Freedom From” (Negative Liberty subverted): Freedom from harassment, catcalling, and sexual violence, traded for total state subjugation. Gilead perverts safety into institutionalised enslavement.

🧠 Exam Technique: Unstable Semantics (AO5)

Top-band scripts do not accept Aunt Lydia’s definition at face value. Show that Gilead’s regime operates via Orwellian semantic manipulation:

  • Language itself becomes unstable and weaponised; ‘protection’ is rebranded coercion.
  • Contrast Aunt Lydia’s ideological indoctrination with Offred’s internal resistance, showing how Gilead replaces personal autonomy with surveillance masquerading as sanctified security.

Section 2: Comprehensive Textual & Contextual Knowledge

💡 Key Thematic Strands (AO3 & AO4)

  • Second-Wave Feminism & The Backlash: Gilead harnesses the anxieties of 1970s radical feminists (anti-pornography marches led by figures like Offred's mother) and distorts them into total female disenfranchisement under the 1980s Christian New Right.
  • Institutionalised Hypocrisy: Totalitarian regimes enforce ideological purity on the powerless while elites purchase illicit freedoms (e.g. the Commander at Jezebels; the underground trade in forbidden cosmetics and alcohol).
  • Dystopian Convention (AO4): Connect to classics like Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World, where states eliminate civil liberties under the pretext of social equilibrium and survival.

✅ High-Yield Textual Evidence (AO2)

  • The ‘Night’ Sections: Atwood structures the novel into daylight duties and nocturnal reveries. In the dark, Offred reclaims imaginative sovereignty: “The night is mine, my own time... Where should I go? Somewhere good.”
  • Language as Agency: The illicit Scrabble game with the Commander transforms basic literacy ( “valance”, “quince”, “zygote” ) into an intoxicating, forbidden exercise of autonomous thought.
  • Alternative Models of Freedom: Moira represents active, violent resistance; Offred’s mother represents vocal activism; Offred preserves internal, psychological survival; the Nuns choose the lethal Colonies rather than renounce their faith.

Section 3: Essay Architecture (Step-by-Step Guide)

A Band 5/6 Structural Roadmap for 25 Marks

📐 Step-by-Step Paragraph Plan

  1. Introduction: Define freedom within Gilead as an ideological battleground. Anchor Aunt Lydia's aphorism to totalitarian doublethink and Berlin's liberty thesis. Pose the central essay argument: while Gilead eradicates external, civil freedom (“freedom to”), Atwood reveals that internal, linguistic, and retrospective freedom cannot be entirely extinguished.
  2. Body Paragraph 1 — Gilead's Perversion of Liberty: Analyse the weaponisation of ‘protection’. Use the Red Centre scenes where Aunt Lydia highlights past street dangers to justify present chattel slavery. Methods: Religious didacticism, paternalistic tone, clothing symbolism (the enveloping red robes and white wings acting as visual prisons).
  3. Body Paragraph 2 — Psychological Sovereignty in the ‘Night’ Sections: Contrast physical captivity with the structure of the narrative. Offred exploits internal monologues, dreams, and memories of Luke and her daughter to reconstruct an inviolable private sphere outside Gilead's chronological grip. Methods: Non-linear fragmentation, lyrical stream-of-consciousness.
  4. Body Paragraph 3 — Complicity, Hypocrisy, and Commercialised Escape: Scrutinise Jezebels and the Commander. Expose that freedom in Gilead is hierarchical: the elite retain illicit agency, while women like Moira are subdued into compromised compliance. Methods: Setting contrast (sterile domesticity vs. neon hedonism), irony of Moira’s resigned shrug.
  5. Body Paragraph 4 — The Ambiguity of Offred’s Narrative Act: Evaluate the ending and the ‘Historical Notes’. Offred’s escape is indeterminate ( “into the darkness within; or else the light” ). Does the recording of her tape-recorded testimony represent the ultimate triumph of personal voice, or is her freedom retroactively undermined and trivialised by Professor Pieixoto’s patronising male critique?
  6. Conclusion: Synthesise findings. Atwood warns that freedoms won are precarious, vulnerable to state crisis, and easily surrendered when populations trade autonomy for an illusion of safety.

Section 4: Examiner Insights & Pitfalls

❌ Common Errors (Where Marks Are Lost)

  • Treating ‘Freedom’ as a One-Dimensional Concept: Discussing only physical confinement without tackling psychological, emotional, sexual, and linguistic liberties.
  • Ignoring the Prompt’s Quotation: Failing to interrogate Aunt Lydia's explicit distinction between “freedom to” and “freedom from”.
  • Storytelling instead of Form/Method Analysis: Retelling Offred’s affair with Nick or Moira’s escape without dissecting narrative stance, genre tropes, or lexical choices.
  • Context as an ‘Add-on’ Bolt: Writing disconnected paragraphs about Ronald Reagan or the Puritans without fusing context directly into the literary analysis.

🧠 What Distinguishes Top-Level Responses (Band 5/6)

  • Critique of Offred’s Passivity: Acknowledging debate over whether Offred is an anti-hero whose romantic distraction with Nick weakens her pursuit of collective political liberation.
  • Close Engagement with Authorial Craft: Pinpointing Atwood's sensory prose, tactile metaphors, and palimpsestic descriptions of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
  • Structural Awareness: Recognising how the overarching epistolary/recorded cassette structure transforms storytelling itself into an act of reclaiming lost agency.
AQA Mark Scheme Reminder: A Level 5/6 response is characterised by an “autonomous, perceptive and argument-driven approach” (AO1) with “sophisticated evaluation of authorial choices” (AO2) and a nuanced understanding of social/historical frameworks (AO3) and multi-layered debate (AO5).

Topics

Modern times: literature from 1945 to the present day · The Handmaid’s Tale

Question and mark scheme from the AQA A-Level English Literature A examination, Paper 2: Texts in shared contexts (2B), June 2025. QuestionVault is an independent revision resource; questions remain the copyright of the awarding body.