Beyond Victimhood: Psychoanalytic Negotiations of Power and Identity in Margaret Atwood’s Novels

Abstract

This paper examines the psychoanalytic dimensions of victimhood and agency in selected novels of Margaret Atwood, focusing particularly on The Handmaid’s Tale, Cat’s Eye, and The Robber Bride. Drawing on Freudian psychoanalysis and trauma theory, the study explores how Atwood constructs characters who oscillate between positions of victim and victor within oppressive sociopolitical structures. Atwood’s concept of “victim positions” provides a critical framework for understanding the psychological evolution of her protagonists, who initially internalize oppression but gradually develop self-awareness and resistance. The study argues that Atwood destabilizes the binary between victim and victor by portraying identity as fluid and shaped by unconscious drives, memory, and trauma. Freudian concepts such as repression, defence mechanisms, and the return of the repressed are employed to analyse how characters negotiate psychological conflict. Trauma theory further illuminates how past experiences resurface in fragmented memories, influencing present behaviour and identity formation. Through close textual analysis, this paper demonstrates that Atwood’s protagonists do not simply overcome victimhood but reconstruct themselves through processes of introspection, narration, and symbolic resistance. The transformation into a “victor” is thus not absolute but represents a psychological negotiation with trauma and power. Ultimately, the paper contributes to interdisciplinary literary studies by integrating psychoanalytic theory with feminist criticism, offering new insights into Atwood’s exploration of power, identity, and survival.