Reply to What do you want to see in S5 of The Handmaid’s Tale?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]How is a wife determined?  Are they infertile?  It doesn’t make sense that Esther was a wife (and fertile) but then demoted to Handmaiden.

Whoever earlier said Esther was raped, I totally missed it.  [/quote]Esther was demoted to Handmaid as punishment for helping the escaped Handmaids and poisoning the Commanders. If her husband had died of natural causes and none of that had ever happened, I think she would’ve been reassigned as a Wife. [b]I’m not sure how Wives are chosen initially.[/b] [/quote]

All I know is they have to be "virtuous"--no affairs, divorces, questionable occupations etc. But not sure how they distinguish between commander's wives and econowives, who may or may not be fertile.[/quote]

Yeah, I'd like to know because we've seen a couple/few Marthas that were fairly young - Beth and Sienna. Why wouldn't they be Wives?[/quote]

The age thing is odd and I think different in the book. In the book, it is very clear that Serena was post-menopausal. June makes a bunch of comments about her "creaking bones" and her use of a cane. It was surprising when Yvonne Strahovsky was initially chosen for the role since there was such a marked difference in age from the role, and yes, that she could be fertile was put on the table. I got the impression that most of the Commanders and their wives were old and not peers of the handmaids. The Marthas I think were also post-menopausal women who hadn't done anything wrong but were also not married. The show took some creative liberties with the societal setup I guess so they could have plotlines like the ones we are seeing play out...[/quote]

Yes - I remember the same from the book. And while it wasn't explicit the implication was that the "right" people should have and raise children, so the high commanders were given handmaids. The whole baby as a status symbol has been carried through in the show. I think it was also presumed Serena could not have children after she was shot, so she might have been one of the younger wives with a handmaid.[/quote]

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