The Testaments has three main narrators: Agnes, Nicole, and Aunt Lydia. All these characters narrate their lives in Gilead. This was at a time when democracy had been defeated as the country came under the control of commanders who were dictatorial. Women in particular suffered because they were considered lesser than men.
Aunt Lydia had previously been a judge who had been divorced. Following the creation of Gilead, she was held for a while so that she could, 'atone for her sins.' She was later released and made an Aunt, which meant that she was in charge of the handmaids and teaching of young girls on the ways of Gilead. Aunt Lydia pretended to be on the side of Gilead but was busy hatching a plan to destroy it. She enlisted Offred the handmaid's daughters Agnes and Nicole who collected information on Gilead and took it to Canada. Aunt Lydia therefore was the key person in the destruction of Gilead. She fooled the commanders in order to gain access to information that would be critical to the life of Gilead.
Agnes was Offred's daughter. She had been taken from her mother forcefully and given to another family, of Tabitha and a Commander. When Tabitha died, the new commander's wife forced her to get married when she attained puberty, which she refused. Agnes represented the young girls who were forced to get married, become handmaids or Marthas depending on how the commanders viewed them.
Nicole was Offred's youngest daughter. She was whisked to Canada when she was born. This is because her mother wanted her to have a better life. Nicole was a representation of hope for other women and girls longed to have freedom as she had in Canada.
