Paula
Paula is the second wife of Commander Kyle and the stepmother of Agnes Jemima, a calculating and manipulative woman who orchestrates the death of her first husband, Commander Saunders, and frames a Handmaid for the murder. She marries Commander Kyle shortly after the death of his first wife, Tabitha, and immediately sets about consolidating her power within the household, treating Agnes with cold contempt and actively working to dispose of her through a forced marriage to the dangerous Commander Judd. Her actions are driven by a ruthless ambition for social status and a deep-seated malice toward Agnes, whom she views as an obstacle to her own happiness and the legitimacy of her new family.
Identity and Background
Paula first appears at the funeral of Tabitha, Agnes's beloved mother, where she is introduced as a widow whose husband, Commander Saunders, was killed by their Handmaid. She is described as eating a cheese puff and giving Agnes a "measuring look" like Vera poking a straw into a cake to see if it was done. She pats Agnes on the head as if she were five and comments on her new dress, a remark that Agnes finds deeply insulting given the occasion. The story of Commander Saunders's death circulates in two versions: Paula's official account, in which the Handmaid was insane and killed him in an unprovoked attack, and a whispered version from the Marthas, which involves a sinful connection and the Commander's unnatural demands. This second version, which Agnes prefers, includes the detail that Paula had to put the dead Commander's trousers back on him before calling the Angels, getting a lot of blood on herself in the process.
Arc Through the Plot
Several months after Tabitha's death, Paula marries Commander Kyle. She immediately begins wearing Tabitha's magic ring, a three-diamond gold ring that Tabitha had promised to Agnes. The Marthas grumble that the ring should have gone to Agnes, but there is nothing they can do. Paula and Commander Kyle begin a campaign of "humouring" Agnes, which in practice means ignoring her displays of mood and discussing her in the third person as if she were not present. Paula systematically purges the house of anything that might remind her new husband of his first wife, moving or discarding one item at a time, including a picture of blue flowers that she places in the Handmaid's room. Agnes comes to hate Paula with a ferocity she cannot suppress, despite Aunt Estée's teachings that hatred curdles the soul.
Paula's primary goal is to produce a biological child of her own. She arranges for a Handmaid, Ofkyle, to be assigned to the household. When Ofkyle becomes pregnant, Paula's status among the other Wives rises dramatically, and she throws numerous tea parties to display her success. She orders Ofkyle to appear in the living room so the Wives can exclaim over her and ask what Paula is going to name "her baby." Agnes observes Ofkyle's face during these performances, seeing the tears she is not allowing herself to cry. Ofkyle dies in childbirth, but Paula's son, Mark, survives. Paula shows little interest in mothering the baby, handing him over to a wet nurse and producing him only for exhibition.
Relationships and Conflict
Paula's relationship with Agnes is one of open hostility. She sends Agnes to the dentist, Dr. Grove, alone, knowing that he is a pedophile who will molest her. Agnes later realizes that Paula did this on purpose, wanting her to be defiled. When Agnes is of marriageable age, Paula forces her into an engagement with Commander Judd, a man known for disposing of his wives. Paula and Commander Kyle favor Judd because he has the most power, and they put on a show of persuading Agnes, though it is clear the marriage will happen whether she likes it or not. Paula disparages the other candidates and runs down their qualifications, knowing that Agnes detests them all. When Agnes escapes the marriage by declaring a calling to become an Aunt, Paula is furious, accusing her of dishonoring her father and demanding she return home immediately. Paula's power is broken only when Aunt Lydia reveals the truth about Commander Saunders's murder, forcing her to relinquish Agnes to the Aunts.
Change and Ending
Paula's true nature is fully exposed through the secret files that Agnes discovers in the Hildegard Library. The blue folder reveals that Paula had been having an affair with Commander Kyle even before Tabitha died. She befriended her Handmaid, offered to help her escape, and then, after the Handmaid set out, skewered Commander Saunders herself. She bribed her Martha to back up the murderous Handmaid story and called the Angels, leading to the Handmaid's false confession and execution. The Aunts knew the truth but did nothing. This revelation shatters Agnes's understanding of her past, suggesting that Tabitha may have been murdered by Paula and Commander Kyle. Paula's fate is not explicitly detailed, but the file's existence ensures that her crimes are known and that she is vulnerable to exposure at any time.
Thematic Significance
Paula embodies the corrupting influence of power and ambition within Gilead's patriarchal structure. She is a woman who, denied direct political authority, wields her influence through manipulation, social maneuvering, and the calculated destruction of other women. Her willingness to murder her husband and frame an innocent Handmaid, to abuse her stepdaughter, and to sell Agnes into a dangerous marriage for social advancement reveals the moral rot at the heart of Gilead's elite. She is a stark example of how the system's values—status, obedience, and the production of heirs—can be weaponized by those who internalize them, turning women into collaborators in their own and others' oppression. Her story underscores the novel's theme that the most insidious threats often come not from the overt enforcers of the regime but from those who operate within its shadows, using its own rules to destroy their rivals.
