A random question about Handmaids Tale

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

I've only seen S1 so far, so this may have been answered in subsequent seasons.

Why are all the rich men married to Barron women and have to have a Handmaid? Why not just divorce the Barron woman and marry the fertile woman?

But surely if reproduction was the pinnacle of success, which it appears to be, then surely there would be a cultural shift so that those that could reproduce would automatically become the elite and those that couldn't would be downgraded?

Because there aren't enough fertile women for each of them to marry one. Once the handmaid has a baby she moves on to another family

It's actually many of the men who are infertile. A lot of 'barren' women could have children with another partner. The women the men are married to are good clean Christians, virgins when they wed. The Handmaids are slatterns who had sex before marriage or multiple partners etc. They would never be given social status in that society. That's sort of the whole point of the book. They are not to be loved or respected or cherished or married. Just used as vessels.

There's a biblical precedent, wife gives husband their handmaiden to bear children. You know of one of the stories - Rachel was married to Jacob but didn't get pregnant, she then "gave" Bilhah to Jacob; Bilhah had a number of sons, before Rachel had Joseph - Joseph waas therefore Jacob's favourite and his (half) brothers were jealous of him.

Gilead is an Old Testament society, they believe that the infertility is part of a punishment from God for not worshipping God - so have gone back to Old Testament values and practices in the belief that this will undo God's wrath. Hence the punishments as well - eye for an eye, if thine hand offends you cut it off, etc.

I thought that all handmaidens had 'sinned' before Gilead , eg had affairs, were gay, were prostitutes. I may be wrong but that's what I thought. I havent read the books, only watched it.

Haven't read the book for a long time, and haven't seen the series, but from memory I thought it was because the wives were older, like the husbands. So they bring in younger women to have the babies.

Because marital breakdown is social suicide. Also the handmaids are tainted women. They are made haidmaids to punish them for their various sins. Not marriage material.

It's why it was highlighted that Luke was married when he and June met (she was the OW). That was her sin, and why she couldn't be a wife.

There's a really powerful moment in the novel (I think in the TV series too) when she genuinely reflects on the pain she caused Luke's wife and recognises why the Gilead people judge her so harshly. It stops you in yoru tracks and makes you reflect on what we take for granted in our society that could reasonably be judged illegal elsewhere.