Prohibition on Women Reading and Writing

The Prohibition on Women Reading and Writing is a foundational law of Gilead that denies women literacy, reserving the ability to read and write exclusively for men and the Aunts, who are permitted to read only for religious and administrative purposes. This rule is enforced through the destruction of books, the use of picture-only signs, and the threat of severe punishment, and it serves as a central mechanism of patriarchal control, shaping the education, identity, and resistance of female characters throughout the novel.

Legal and Ideological Framework

In Gilead, reading and writing are forbidden for women and girls, with the exception of the Aunts, who are allowed to read and write only for religious and administrative purposes. The regime justifies this prohibition by claiming that women's minds are too weak to handle the force of written words, and that reading would lead to depravity and rebellion. Aunt Vidala teaches that Eve ate the Apple of Knowledge because of too much imagination, and that it is better not to know some things. The Aunts themselves are not married and are not allowed to be, which is why they can have writing and books. The prohibition is enforced through the destruction of books deemed corrupt, with the corrupt and blood-smeared fingerprints of the past wiped away to create a clean space for the morally pure generation. The regime also uses picture-only signs on stores—a boot, a fish, a tooth—to ensure that women cannot read commercial information.

Education and Indoctrination

Girls from elite families are taught only handicrafts such as petit-point embroidery, crochet work, and the making of paper flowers, but not reading or writing. At the Vidala School, girls learn to embroider handkerchiefs and footstools with patterns like flowers in a vase or fruit in a bowl, but they are not taught to read. The Aunts use stories like the Concubine Cut into Twelve Pieces to instill fear and obedience, telling girls that the concubine deserved her fate because she ran away. When Agnes Jemima begins to learn to read at Ardua Hall, she is given old Dick and Jane books with the pictures altered: Jane's skirts and sleeves are painted over to cover her knees and elbows, and her hair is covered. The most astonishing thing about these books, Agnes reflects, is that Dick and Jane and Baby Sally live in a house with nothing around it but a flimsy white wooden fence, with no Angels or Guardians, and Baby Sally could have been abducted at any moment.

Enforcement and Punishment

The prohibition is enforced through severe punishments, including Corrections in the cellar of Ardua Hall, where Aunts who stray beyond the rules are disciplined. Aunt Vidala, who is in charge of Corrections, is known to have a mean streak and can inflict harsh punishments. One Supplicant, Aunt Lily, was given a Correction for talking back and was never the same afterward; she later drowned herself in the rooftop rainwater cistern. The Aunts themselves are not immune to the consequences of unauthorized reading: Aunt Lydia, who writes her secret manuscript, hides it inside a hollowed-out copy of Cardinal Newman's Apologia Pro Vita Sua, knowing that if discovered, it would mean a bullet in the head for her.

Consequences and Resistance

The prohibition creates a deep hunger for knowledge among women, and the act of learning to read becomes a form of resistance. Agnes Jemima, after being admitted to Ardua Hall as a Supplicant, learns to read with the help of Becka, and the experience is transformative: she feels as if a golden key has been given to her, unlocking one secret door after another. When she finally reads the full Bible, she discovers that the story of the Concubine Cut into Twelve Pieces has been altered by the Aunts—the concubine was not brave and noble, but simply shoved out the door and raped to death, then cut up like a cow. This revelation causes a crisis of faith, as she realizes that the Aunts have lied to her. The prohibition also fuels the secret work of the Aunts, who use their literacy to maintain the Bloodlines Genealogical Archives, which record the true parentage of children to prevent incest, and to compile dossiers of crimes committed by the powerful. Aunt Lydia, who controls this information, reflects that knowledge is power, especially discreditable knowledge, and that every intelligence agency in the world has always known this.

Thematic Significance

The Prohibition on Women Reading and Writing is a central mechanism of patriarchal control in Gilead, designed to keep women dependent, ignorant, and submissive. By denying women access to the written word, the regime seeks to control not only their knowledge but also their imagination and their ability to conceive of alternative ways of living. The prohibition also creates a sharp divide between the Aunts, who are permitted to read and write for administrative purposes, and all other women, who are denied this privilege. This divide is a source of both power and corruption for the Aunts, who must navigate the moral complexities of wielding knowledge in a system built on lies. The act of learning to read becomes a form of resistance and a path to self-discovery for characters like Agnes, who ultimately uses her literacy to help bring down the regime. The prohibition thus underscores the novel's central theme: that control over language and knowledge is fundamental to political power, and that the struggle for literacy is a struggle for freedom.