Viewers of The Handmaid’s Story have been analyzing the character of Serena Pleasure Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski) since its debut in 2017 on Hulu. One of the distinguished characters subsequent to June (Elisabeth Moss), she has served as each a major antagonist and an individual whom viewers want to grasp absolutely. There’s quite a bit to not love about her: she has subjected different ladies to sexual violence, is a manipulator, and is a hypocrite.
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In time with season 5’s launch, Serena’s transgressions are presumed to grow to be the present’s focus within the showdown between her and June. But, there are just a few factors of sympathy for the character: Serena is a lady who has been compelled into oppression, she too is a sufferer of manipulation, and is extremely lonely as she struggles to coincide in a dynamic she initially envisioned. The duality of The Handmaid’s Story’s deuteragonist makes for a posh understanding of how viewers ought to really feel in direction of Serena.
The next article accommodates spoilers for The Handmaid’s Story. Content material warning: the next article accommodates references to sexual assault. Reader discretion is suggested.
Serena is Clever and Manipulative
“By no means mistake a lady’s meekness for weak point” is a line from Serena’s e book on home feminism, titled A Lady’s Place, selling her theocratic beliefs earlier than the institution of Gilead. And what a quote that’s—manipulating what’s to be a lifetime of subservience to sound extra like a mindset adjustment slightly than a demise of freedom.
A big a part of Serena’s intimidating persona is her intelligence and, as an extension, her manipulative ways to get what she needs. From blackmail, thoughts video games, violence, calls for, and toying with relationships, Serena waltzes to exploitation the second somebody crosses her.
There Are Moments When We Really feel For Her
Though Serena generally is a highly effective chief, her standing as a Spouse in Gilead has in the end made her a prisoner. All through The Handmaid’s Story, there have been standout moments the place Serena holds no place of energy: from younger Eden’s (Sydney Sweeney) execution, Fred (Joseph Fiennes) beating her, her finger being amputated for studying, and the small moments of closeness she shares with June.
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The injustices, regardless of her enacting her personal, pressure viewers to see Serena as a lady beneath the patriarchy slightly than a lady of excessive standing. These moments remind viewers that her bitterness isn’t with out trigger, for the Gilead she initially envisioned and the Gilead she lives in are two separate entities.
She is Each the Oppressed and the Oppressor
One of the nuanced components of Serena is that she acts as each the oppressed and the oppressor in Gilead. Being a lady in Gilead robotically grants some oppression the place they’ll by no means have extra energy, or luxuries, than a person. As a Spouse, Serena is afforded extra safety towards main tribulations in Gilead than different ladies however is demanded to remain throughout the partitions of her dwelling. Typical home duties are stripped of her, the place Serena is predicted to spend her day knitting, gardening, and arranging for the home to remain so as. Serena can’t learn, write, or be concerned in political talks and should suggest wait for a kid to be born into her arms to have any function.
However Serena’s energy is subdued however ever-present, utilizing thoughts video games and her increased standing in comparison with June and Rita (Amanda Brugel) to regain a way of management. Asides from Fred, Serena is June’s different tormentor: the girl who allowed month-to-month rapes, dangled Hannah (Jordana Blake) in June’s face and always reminded June that she is decrease rating. Whether or not Serena is a product of her atmosphere or a management freak is disputable.
Serena is Blinded By Her Purpose of Motherhood
One in all Serena’s greatest demons has all the time been her (supposed) infertility, which drove her in a downward spiral as soon as it was revealed that June was pregnant. Even going as far as arranging for Nick (Max Minghella) to impregnate June and faux it is Fred’s youngster, Serena’s need for a kid trumps all the pieces—even the strict guidelines of Gilead that might see her find yourself on the wall.
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Her remedy of June will be seen as an extension of her jealousy, along with her bitterness main her to her most violent self. Now, in season 5, her shock being pregnant has proved to be another excuse to hunt justice. In worry of June after she murdered Fred, Serena makes use of her energy in Gilead to ship a message: “mess with my son, and I’ll mess with Hannah.”
She is Lonely
Together with her life skimming on the sting of servitude and a sort of freedom in Gilead, Serena in the end has nobody to depend on, slightly simply these to trade pleasantries with or these in her family dynamic (who don’t take care of her a lot). Her intimidating presence has altered her skill to be likable or relatable.
Serena appears so out of contact with the hardship of these beneath her, and in scenes equivalent to when she invitations fellow handmaids for tea, she struggles to create conversations that imply something. Serena’s loneliness is a product of her actions and another excuse to control any and all of these round her—even her husband.
Serena Helped Create Gilead
Though her company was ultimately stripped away, Serena performed a elementary function within the creation of Gilead. Pre-Gilead, she labored as a vessel for God’s phrase, the place her far-right activism ended up being the blueprint Fred took credit score for. You will need to observe that Serena didn’t give you the handmaid system itself or some other of Gilead’s social stratifications, merely the concept if ladies shifted their precedence to creating a house slightly than working, as an answer to the declining start charges in America.
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As a author and activist, Serena didn’t condone guidelines such because the ban on studying and writing; as an alternative, she envisioned a world the place faith and childbearing have been on the forefront, with out sacrifices to on a regular basis freedoms.
Her Revenge Comes From Concern, Not All Bitterness
Deep inside, Serena is a susceptible girl who has been attempting to reclaim her autonomy. As soon as the voice that Fred listened to, Serena’s opinion went on the again burner as her husband rose within the ranks, and her security slowly diminished too. Between Fred subjecting her to punishments like beatings and a finger amputation and June always “behaving recklessly,” Serena’s life turned unstable.
Shedding her affect in Gilead in season 5 after Fred’s demise, Serena now realizes how nobody is in her nook—and decides to coerce assist as a method to compensate. When she finds out that June murdered Fred, Serena’s stakes are excessive, scared of what June might do to her and her unborn son. Utilizing Hannah as a menace has all the time been the one upper-hand Serena can flip to as a protection mechanism.
Her Marriage is Questionable
Fred and Serena have had a tumultuous relationship, presumably because the institution of Gilead (and, specifically, the enforcement of bringing a handmaid into their dwelling). Fred’s loyalty isn’t certain to Serena, the place he frequented the underground brothel and has engaged in sexual relations with each of their handmaids, leading to dire conditions for the 2 Offred’s.
Compelled into silence beneath her loyalty to Gilead, and maybe to keep away from loneliness, Serena withdrew her affliction by viewing Fred as her enterprise associate over her husband. What was born out of affection in the end died out of betrayal—the place they stayed collectively for the sake of Gilead, although that’s the very factor that broke them.
Serena Has Moments of Redemption
Serena has dedicated a number of transgressions throughout 5 seasons of The Handmaid’s Story. However, alongside the way in which, she has additionally had two pivotal moments that led viewers to consider she was on the highway to some sort of redemption. In season 2, Serena determined to permit child Nichole to flee Gilead, regardless of her craving for a kid, as a result of she realized the pitfalls of Gilead society. Nonetheless, after, her psychological well being declined, and she or he started to spin the story by main a nationwide marketing campaign to carry again her “stolen” youngster.
In season 4, Serena turned her again on Fred throughout their trial to defend herself, claiming she was simply as oppressed as June. In the end, she needed to face expenses of her personal after coming along with Fred for the sake of their unborn youngster. Whether or not she is a redeemable character or not is nuanced, however viewers want for at the least some sort of accountability, particularly after her redeeming moments have been reversed.
Serena is Not Solely a Villain
Sometimes, a villain commits evil for the sake of evil, or at the least as retribution for some traumatic expertise that modified their life. Serena’s unique intentions have been pure sufficient—to current an answer to the infertility disaster by selling a home life. It was solely when this concept turned a compelled actuality influenced by males in energy that Serena turned a product of one thing she initially wished a part of as a result of she didn’t notice what a male-dominated Gilead really meant.
Whereas Serena’s actions solely manifest because of her wishes, not the wants of others, she is attempting to outlive the patriarchy: albeit in an authoritarian, manipulative manner. Her survival by means of trepidation masked as malevolence is a product of her state of affairs, not essentially ill-intent. Has Serena grow to be a villain, or was she all the time a villain? And, when it comes to her impending freedom, ought to she be granted absolution if she leaves June alone?
