Each category of women in gilead is resentful to others. Explain the reason for this resentment and explain its effects on women.

The society put forth in the novel cannot help but breed resentment and jealousy among the women. Each and every category of women in Gilead is cheated out of their womanhood in one way or another. The receive tokens from the men..... one group has children, the other raises them. Handmaids have relations with married men, and their wives are expected to feel nothing..... but they hate their rivals. The handmaids themselves are terrified of infertility.

Serena is the perfect example of a woman filled with jealousy and resentment. She runs her home like a garrison because she can. It is the only place she can act with authority, so she wields her iron fist. Offred is the enemy, she sleeps with Serena's husband and enjoys freedoms Serena cannot imagine. Their world is built to evoke conflict, as the more conflict the women endure, the more power the men actually have over them.