Characters

• the commander is the patriarchal head of the household Offred lives in symbolising a repressive sexist system within Gilead's society
• Aunt Lydia is an aunt at the Red Centre tasked with re-educating and indoctrinating women into accepting their fates as handmaids
• Moira is Offred's best friend from college who defies the Gilead regime; she is a lesbian and a feminist; eventually she escapes the Red Centre to become a sex worker at Jezebels
• Nick is a guardian (officer of Gilead) who works as a chauffeur and gardener for the commander and has an affair with Offred when serena joy organises a union between them in an attempt to get Offred pregnant
• Ofglen is assigned as Offred's shopping partner; she is a member of mayday working against the regime
• Ofglen is a symbol of failed rebellion as she hangs herself when she is discovered as a member of mayday by the eyes showing how women choose to silence themselves to avoid persecution
• Janine or Ofwarren is envied as she is able to have a baby, however this "unbaby" is rejected as it is born with deformities and it is decided "the baby's flaws were due to her alone" showing how women are blamed for problems that men have also had an input in
• Luke is Offred's husband from before Gilead whom she had an affair with while he was married to another women; they have a daughter and try to escape to Canada however they are captured and separated
• Aunt Elizabeth is an Aunt at the Red Centre who is attacked by Moira who wears her clothes to escape
• Offred's mother is a single mother and feminist activist who is remembered through Offred's flashbacks; her feminist activism is shown through archival footage shown at the Red Centre of an anti-rape protest called Take Back The Night
• Rita and Cora are the two Marthas working in Offred's household; Rita treats Offred with distain as she opposes the part of the regime she represents; "Its the red dress she disapproves of and what it stands for" "nothing i bring fully pleases her"
• Professor Piexoto appears during the Historical notes / the epilogue taking place in 2195 and has transcribed Offred's tape recorded narrative and organising them into "blocks of speech" showing how men dominate and take over women's stories