Two of the three texts being discussed are written by male authors. However, all three novels present a representation of women. The inspiration for these portrayals has to come from somewhere, whether it be personal experiences, famous movements, or famous figureheads.

Personal experiences upon the author of these dystopian novels can sometimes play a large part in creating certain aspects of the dystopia itself. For example, George Orwell’s relationship with his first wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy, was a strong one. They were not always faithful to each other, but had knowledge of each other’s infidelity. O’Shaughnessy died during a hysterectomy in 1945. From letters to Orwell’s friends, it seemed at first that he was not truly saddened by her death, he simply wrote, ‘Eileen is dead’ (Davison) It was obvious later though that he was affected by his loss, he said he was discouraged from going to his cottage in Hertfordshire ‘because the last time I was there it was with Eileen and it upsets me to go there.’ (Davison) Eileen could have had a large impact on Nineteen Eighty-Four as effectively Winston loses Julia. Even though they are re-united briefly towards the end of the novel, they are effectively apart; their spirit has gone.

Eileen O’Shaughnessy may have had other, more subtle effects upon Nineteen Eighty-Four. The novel was originally called The Last Man in Europe but Orwell was asked by his publisher Frederic Warburg to change it to a more marketable title. It is often believed that Orwell changed it to Nineteen Eighty-Four because he wrote it in 1948 and just simply changed the last two digits of the year around. However, it has also been suggested that his wife had written a poem called End of the Century, 1984 and in memory of her, he named his book after this.

After his wife’s death, Orwell desperately tried to re-marry. In a letter to Anne Popham, one of the women he pursued, he said:

If you wanted children by someone else it wouldn’t bother me, because I have very little physical jealousy. I don’t much care who sleeps with whom, it seems to me what matters is being faithful in an emotional and intellectual sense. (Orwell, April 18^th, 1946)

This seems almost like a direct reference to Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwell viewed faithfulness as being a mental act, not physical. In the novel the only way Winston can defy Big Brother, is by not betraying Julia in an ‘emotional and intellectual’ way.

The death of Aldous Huxley’s mother, when he was only fourteen, is said to have had some impact upon Brave New World. Huxley took his mother’s death very badly. He said later, it gave him a ‘sense of the transience of human happiness’. In the novel the citizens ignore any sadness in death and condition themselves to deny any feelings of loss. The character Linda, John’s mother, could be viewed as a figurehead for Huxley’s mother. The readers are given detailed descriptions of John’s reactions to his mother’s death. ‘ The Savage stood for a moment in frozen silence, then fell on his knees beside the bed and, covering his face with his hands, and sobbed uncontrollably.’ (pg 187)

Famous historical movements could also affect the content of these dystopian novels. George Orwell took a lot of inspiration for Nineteen Eighty-Four from Nazi Germany, the novel being written only three years after the Second World War. The women in Nazi Germany were discouraged from wearing make-up, dyeing their hair or having perms. Only flat shoes were encouraged. Any elements of sexuality or individuality were taken away. This is apparent in Orwell’s novel, where the women are made to wear overalls and a red sash to symbolise their stand against sexual desire.

In the 1920’s Huxley and his family travelled, spending much time in Italy. At the time it was in the power of Benito Mussolini under a fascist regime. It is said this experience of fascist Italy had an impact on Huxley’s writing of Brave New World as Mussolini fought against birth control to help produce enough man-power for the next war. This is an underlying theme in the novel with the idea of mass production of people artificially.

Famous historical figureheads are also important when considering the portrayal of women in dystopian novels and what might have influenced their portrayals. It has been said that the male rebel leader Goldstein in Nineteen Eighty-Four could have been based on Emma Goldman who died in 1940. She was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She spoke and wrote on a wide variety of issues, including prisons, atheism, freedom of speech, militarism, capitalism, marriage, and free love, all the things the mysterious Goldstein is a figurehead for standing against.

A majority of the characters in Brave New World are named after famous figureheads, for example Bernard Marx being Karl Marx. The main female character is said to be based on Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik leader during the Russian Revolution. The headmistress of Eton College in the novel is named Miss. Keate after the famous nineteenth-century headmaster John Keate. It is interesting to see the reversal of the characters’ sex here; the famous headmaster of such a prestigious college being turned into a woman of power. Sigmund Freud is also an important character in the novel. ‘Our Freud’ sometimes replaces the phrase ‘Our Ford’. Freud was a believer that sexual activity is essential to human happiness and not only for procreation. He has never really been popular with feminists as many of his theories of psychoanalysis were undermining and considered sexist. The idea that Huxley presents of a society literally and strictly following the values of Freud, is quite a terrifying one.

The character of Serena Joy in The Handmaid’s Tale is said to be based on the American Christian singer, Tammy Faye Bakker, who died in 2007. From the descriptions of Serena Joy it is very clear that Atwood created her to look like Bakker. (QUOTE) In the eighties Tammy Faye Bakker was married to Jim Bakker, they both owned a television company together. They were both arrested for spending $287,000 to buy the silence of a woman called Jessica Hahn who Jim had had a sexual encounter with. This alludes to the undertones of The Handmaid’s Tale – the idea of silencing sex and of sexual taboo.

Dystopian novels usually present some form of social critique. This is apparent in Nineteen Eighty-Four with the idea of Big Brother. In May 1948 a girl went missing in Leeds. The police then launched a campaign to find her and took the fingerprints of 40,000 men in the area. Orwell may have seen this as a hint towards the idea that everyone is under some kind of surveillance, with more and more subtle aspects of privacy slowly being taken away from us. He is commenting that if we continue in this direction, people will not be able to even think independent thoughts without being arrested (the Thought Police).

Margaret Atwood offers a number of social critiques in The Handmaid’s Tale the novel presents a vision of society in America in the period between 1970-1985, especially focusing on the period of backlash against feminism. This can be seen in the ideologies of the Aunts. (QUOTE) The novel also mocks famous political figureheads who talked of ‘traditional values’, for example Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, who both suggested that a woman’s place was in the home. Atwood offers the warning that extremist views could result in fundamentalist totalitarianism. This is apparent in the character Serena Joy, who before the overthrow of the United States by religious fundamentalists, was a gospel singer and preacher, promoting the ideals of women staying at home. Offred then describes Serena Joy’s suffering as she spends each day at home, obviously regretting her words.