Female identity and power relations in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Cat's Eye and Lady Oracle

In this dissertation, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Cat's Eye and Lady Oracle are evaluated in the light of formation of female identity in the society, power relations and feminist theories. The differences of female characters in the novels are isolated from the society and the attitudes of women and men against these differences are analyzed in respect to relation and communication of the female characters. The female characters are examined in terms of being forced to give up their authentic identities and self-esteem. Besides, being perceived as insufficient in the context of "being an ideal woman" which is the notion of the patriarchal society and its mediators are questioned. It is analyzed that in the patriarchal societies, objectifying women and dividing them into the appropriate roles of women in the society result in identity problems. In the end of this dissertation, the factors which affect identity formation negatively are displayed and it is also investigated that whether these characters are able to overcome their identity crisis or not.