Ignorance is Misery

In the novel, The Handmaid's Tale, and the play, Tartuffe, written by Margaret Atwood and Moliére respectively, the theme of irony is used to undercut societal ignorance. The theme of irony also reflects the idea that things are not always what they seem to be.

In The Handmaid's Tale there are specific scenes in which characters make false assumptions that lead to serious consequences later. In the novel The Handmaid's Tale, Offred makes the assumption that the words "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum" are a sign of hope for her in the form of a message from someone who lived there before her. After discovering the message for the first time, she says, "It was a message, and it was in writing, forbidden by that very fact, and it hadn't yet been discovered. Except by me, for whom it was intended. It was...