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Abstract Atwood’s protagonists suffer from varying forms of victimization and must overcome it. In these novels, women are stripped of their identities, their inability to feel, their inability to connect with the others. They are also forbidden from reading, writing, and using the language. All these points are discussed in the following chapters. They are victimized by men at the beginning but at the end of each chapter they reject the victimization process and have power. The thesis explores how recognition and rejection of victimization in feminist issues are reflected through the female protagonists of the three novels, The Edible Woman, Surfacing, and The Handmaid’s Tale. The female characters may be oppressed, but they are not portrayed as powerless victims. They are often exposed to abundant suffering. Atwood has stated that these characters suffer because they imitate the experiences of women in reality. In order to understand Atwood’s female characters, it is necessary to examine certain ideas that can be seen in Atwood’s works, specifically her thoughts on feminism, victimization and survival. Her works have been thoroughly studied and examined. Hélèn Cixous is a French feminist who proposes an imaginary utopia which is free of sex roles, otherness, and the law of the father. She made a distinction between good and bad power which can be applied to The Edible Woman, Surfacing, and The Handmaid’s Tale. Feminist critics such as Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, and Hélèn Cixous will be adopted to the study. They are chosen to achieve a full comprehension of the thematic and artistic value of the novels and how far they succeed in reflecting Margaret Atwood’s views about recognition and rejection of victimization. |