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Chapter 37
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Testaments, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Religious Totalitarianism and Hypocrisy
Gender Roles
Truth, Knowledge, and Power
Shame, Fear, and Repression
Choice
Summary
Analysis
As Aunt Estée and Agnes drive, Estée reveals that they are going to Ardua Hall. Agnes has only heard of Ardua Hall from the Marthas, who regard it as a bad place where the Aunts “get their hands dirty,” which intrigues Agnes. Estée explains that all the Aunts live in Ardua Hall.
Although the narratives heavily dwell on the lives of the Aunts, the Martha’s derision of Ardua Hall and apparent ignorance of what the Aunts actually do suggests that their actions are largely concealed from Gilead’s society.
Themes
Aunt Estée and Agnes arrive, passing Lydia’s statue on the way in. Agnes is surprised to see writing on the walls and doors, which is normally forbidden in public. Agnes will be safe here for now, since men are expressly forbidden from entering. Aunt Estée finds a cup of milk for Agnes, though Agnes wonders if it’s drugged, and Estée leaves her in the care of another Aunt while she leaves to make arrangements. Agnes sees a book sitting on a table, and since she has already broken many laws today, walks over and stares at it, wondering what makes it so dangerous.
Once again, the fact that men are not allowed to enter Ardua Hall establishes it as a women’s domain, a sanctuary from domineering men in a society that gives men as much power over women as it possibly can. Agnes’s surprise that Ardua Hall has writing on its walls, and her feeling that the book must contain some hidden danger, demonstrate the great lengths to which any form of knowledge is forbidden from women in Gilead.
Themes
