Canada censored The Handmaid’s Tale for the depiction of violence and offensive language. Other countries, including Portugal and Spain, have removed the book from the public’s access on the grounds of sexual content, profanity, being anti-Christian, and featuring LGBTQ+ characters. According to writer Sima Sharifi, the Persian translation of the book released in Iran had the text altered to not “put the idea in women’s heads that they would be rewarded for activism.”

Margaret Atwood Questions Virginia’s Ban of The Handmaid’s Tale

The Author Suspects Another Motive to Ban Her Book

The Handmaid’s Tale author, Margaret Atwood, published an article in The Atlantic in 2023, responding to the school board in Madison County, Virginia banning her book from high-school libraries on the grounds of having explicit sexual scenes. She argued that the official reasons for the ban are ridiculous, stating that her book “is much less sexually explicit than the Bible.” Limiting what kids can read based on religious views is also a form of totalitarianism and flies against the separation of church and state that the US is founded on.

The author stated that despite her book being misunderstood as anti-Christian, The Handmaid’s Tale was partially inspired by biblical texts and argues “against totalitarian control and power hoarding cloaked in a supposed religiousness that is mostly based on the earlier scriptures in the Bible.” Atwood does have a point. It makes little sense that her book is banned, while movie and TV adaptations that include more explicit scenes are not. Banning her book from libraries only affects those who can’t afford to buy books. Atwood also raised the topic of book censorship in the age of social media and streaming platforms.

The Handmaid’s Tale depicts a dystopian society where the theocratic Christian authoritarian regime of Gilead has taken over the US. The penultimate fifth season of The Handmaid’s Tale delves further into June’s story. The provocative nature of the subjects discussed in the story may cause discomfort for certain people, especially on the subject of sex, birth control, and women’s rights. However, contrary to what is claimed in the official statement on the book ban, sex exists only by mention. There’s no direct, on-the-page description of explicit activities. Although The Handmaid’s Tale was written for adults, the book often makes an appearance on high school reading lists. The author has since teamed up with Penguin Random House to create a fire-proofed version to ensure her book cannot be burned.

The Handmaid’s Tale Includes a Queer Character

Moira Is the Only LGBTQ Character in the Entire Book

The Handmaid’s Tale included a strong and fierce LGBTQ+ character, Moira, known for her intelligence and bravery. The system seeks to define her, but she chooses not to submit. The strength and courage of Moira serve as an inspiration for the other Handmaids. However, her tragic end offers readers a spine-tingling view of power and oppression. The Handmaid’s Tale doesn’t just include queerness; the book tells the tale of oppression and injustice. It’s fiction, but it mirrors reality in ugly ways.

Moira, the book’s only queer character, is a Handmaid alongside Offred at the Red Center and has known her since adolescence. Even though Moira has dated men in the past, she finds herself in much more satisfied relationships with women. She is also a gender equalist and an activist. She attempts to escape from the Red Center twice, and even before, she tried to escape the Republic of Gilead when it began to take over the U.S. Back then, Moira almost made it to Canada, but she was captured and brought back.

She then meets Offred in the Red Center, and never agrees to submit to Gilead’s rules. She resists the training at the Red Center and refuses to be defined by Gilead, which leads to her second attempt to escape from Gilead and a first from the Red Center. She’s captured again, and this time, Moira is tortured as punishment for her actions. In a world where handmaids live to serve the only purpose of reproduction, Aunt Lydia justifies the torture by reminding women that they don’t need hands or legs to serve their purposes.

Despite the consequences, Moira attempts to escape for the third time. She confronts Aunt Elizabeth and steals her high-ranking clothing as an aid for her escape. Because of Moira’s success in escaping from the Red Center, the women regard her as a symbol of rebellion and a legend. However, Moira’s story ends on a tragic note. It’s revealed that she’s been captured again, and this time, Gilead manages to get to her. Moira is put to work as a sex worker with her spirit broken. She and Offred meet again many years later, but sadly, Moira is almost unrecognizable. Simple pleasures like cigarettes and alcohol dominate her decision-making. She lives for these “forbidden luxuries” and only tolerates her life.

The Handmaid’s Tale Tackles Women’s Rights in Patriarchal Society

Moira Is Thought of as a Gender Traitor

Moira’s desperate need to escape from Gilead is understandable, given that queerness is treated as treason and queer people are stripped of human rights in the Republic of Gilead (which eventually happens to Moira). The patriarchal social structure of Gilead ensures that “both men and women who do not carry out their roles in the patriarchal system are punished.” Moira, as a lesbian, is considered a gender traitor, but she’s only one among the other “offenders” who “fail” at their duties as women.

“Unwomen” are those who are unmarried, divorced, or unfaithful. Human rights activists, nuns, journalists, female protesters, feminists, and handmaids who fail to bear children in three two-year postings all count as “unwomen.” They have no human rights, which means that they are subjected to forced labor without any question raised and can be executed at any time. Though the character is taken as a symbol of rebellion by other handmaids, Moira is just trying to survive. This makes her ending even more heartbreaking because, in the end, there’s no way out. The only way for her to exist is to comply and let Gilead take away her identity and everything that makes her Moira.

The Final Season of The Handmaid’s Tale Is Confirmed

Season Six Premiered on April 8, 2025

After facing delays largely due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, production finally began for the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale in September 2024. Hulu has revealed that Josh Charles, costar of Elisabeth Moss on The Veil, will join the cast in Season 6. The premise of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 was kept under wraps, with few details revealed until the first three episodes were released on April 8, 2025, to critical acclaim.

The Handmaid’s Tale has always been unapologetically feminist, and Season 6 takes that to new heights. Now, the heroic women have to confront each other and resolve their own internal strife before they can effectively take the fight to their oppressors. The question of personal freedom becomes as important as the liberation of all women. Many conflicts will inevitably rise to the surface over the course of the series’ final story arc, and fans are hoping that June’s fate will not be as ambiguous as it is in Atwood’s novel.

The Testaments Is Just as Feminist as Its Predecessor

The Handmaid’s Tale Sequel Is Also Getting a TV Series

Nearly four decades after the publication of her world-renowned novel, Margaret Atwood released a sequel in 2019. Unlike The Handmaid’s Tale, which received a Booker Prize nomination, The Testaments went on to win the prestigious literary award (shared with Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other). Taking place fifteen years following the end of June’s storyline, the original protagonist doesn’t appear in The Testaments. Instead, the narrator is Aunt Lydia, played by Ann Dowd in the TV series.

While The Handmaid’s Tale highlighted the power and struggles of resistance, the sequel showcases how various forms of rebellion sprouted across Gilead. The main female characters are all exceptionally devoted to the cause of freedom, with the dream of true emancipation fueling them to greater heights. Although Margaret Atwood has occasionally criticized the term “feminism” to describe her works, she agrees that they are feminist in the sense that “women are human beings… and what happens to them is crucial to the theme, structure, and plot…” Undoubtedly, the fiery heroines of The Testaments are as powerful a sisterhood as their counterparts in The Handmaid’s Tale.

As the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale continues, fans are also awaiting the upcoming TV adaptation of The Testaments. Cast members include Lucy Halliday, Chase Infinity, and Ann Dowd, who reprises her role as Aunt Lydia. Unlike the novel, however, The Testaments TV show will take place four years following the conclusion of The Handmaid’s Tale. Still, Chase Infiniti’s Agnes is likely to be the same Agnes as June’s daughter, linking both stories together. However, whether June will appear in The Testaments depends on her outcome in The Handmaid’s Tale series finale.