Adultery and Divorce

• Attitudes towards adultery and divorce differ greatly throughout countries and have immensely changed in recent years.
• In Muslim countries where sharia law operates, adultery is punishable by imprisonment, flogging, or even death.
• In the western world, there is concern that standards are being eroded by the frequency of adultery and divorce.
• In the UK, divorce is increasingly leading to more single parent households.
• This recent increase in acceptance for divorce is shown in how in 1936 King Edward abdicated to marry a divorced woman.
• Three out of four of Queen Elizabeth's children have been divorced.
• In Gilead, adultery is punishable by death.
• Couples who were married after divorce are also seen as corrupt, which is why Offred's daughter was taken away from her and Luke.
• Atwood clearly shows the passion Offred had for Luke, but also highlights the complex problems surrounding their affair.
• In chapter 28, Atwood states that Luke's ex-wife suffered greatly from their divorce, and it took Luke two years to 'pry himself loose'.
• Moira criticizes Offred's behavior as immoral, stating that she was 'poaching on another woman's grounds'.
• Atwood comments on this freedom and how interchangeable people were seen being.
• Offred states in chapter 9 that people 'tried each other on, like suits; and in 35 that 'we would change the man, for another one… as if we were free to shape and reshape forever the ever-expanding boundaries of our lives'.