Aunt Lydia is the most powerful Aunt in Gilead, the leader of Ardua Hall, one of the Founders, and one of the novel’s three narrators.

Over the course of The Testaments, Aunt Lydia reveals the horrifying conditions that led her to join the ranks of Gilead’s elite. She also explains how she has leveraged the power of her top position. Though no longer officially a judge, Aunt Lydia continues to administer justice in whatever ways she can.

After the Handmaids are placed in homes, Lydia also serves as a liaison between Gilead authority and individual households. She frequently makes house calls to ensure that everyone is doing their part to populate the newly formed nation. In the first season, we see her make a handful of visits to the Waterford residence, where June has been placed.

Atwood’s Lydia is a very different character in many respects: Lydia of the books was a judge before Gilead took power, and acts as a committed and experienced mole for Mayday in “The Testaments.” For now, one thing is sure: Aunt Lydia will definitely go down as one of the most compelling TV villains of all time.

Who is the most powerful aunt in Gilead?

Aunt Lydia. Aunt Lydia is the most powerful Aunt in Gilead, the leader of Ardua Hall, one of the Founders, and one of the novel’s three narrators. Although Lydia seems to be the archetype of power and oppressive control in Gilead, her narrative reveals that she has secretly been planning Gilead’s destruction from the beginning, …

On the sly, Lydia also rescues women in Gilead such as Agnes and Becka from arranged marriages, and she brings sexual predators such as Dr. Grove to justice. When Nicole and Ada go into hiding, Lydia communicates that she has damning information that will destroy Gilead so long as Mayday can get Nicole to her safely.

From Ardua Hall, Lydia orchestrates Nicole and Agnes’s escape to Canada (at the cost of Becka’s life) providing Agnes with freedom and Mayday with the ultimate weapon to combat Gilead, even though Lydia makes a martyr of herself in doing so.

Although Lydia seems to be the archetype of power and oppressive control in Gilead, her narrative reveals that she has secretly been planning Gilead’s destruction from the beginning, even when she was helping to design its social systems and moral codes.

What does Aunt Lydia say to Offred and the other Handmaids?

For example, when she warns Offred and the other Handmaids to be careful of Wives, Aunt Lydia says: “Forgive them, for they know not what they do” —quoting Jesus on the cross. She then adds, “You must realize that they are defeated women,” because they have been unable to bear children (Chapter 8).

The Handmaid’s Tale. Offred often remembers—and quotes—one of the Aunts responsible for Offred’s “re-education” at the Red Center. Aunt Lydia is one of the least likable faces of the Gileadean regime. Armed with a cattle prod, she is responsible for some of the most misogynistic statements in the novel, and also some of …

The “Historical Notes” section states this idea outright: “when power is scarce, a little of it is tempting.”. However, the “Notes” section also offers a more sympathetic explanation for the motives of the Aunts. By joining the Aunts, women “escape redundancy, and consequent shipment to the infamous colonies.”.

ADVERTISEMENT

Who was Aunt Lydia in Gilead?

In the flashbacks, meanwhile, we learn that Aunt Lydia was an elementary school teacher by the name of Lydia Clements prior to Gilead taking over the United States.

This then explains Aunt Lydia’s relationship with June, which is a key part of The Handmaid’s Tale. It’s quite clear that Lydia sees a lot of similarities between Noelle and June: the latter was late to pick her child up when she was sick and reprimanded for it, and both went after married men. Everything that Aunt Lydia loathed about Noelle she …

She smashes a mirror, and then decides to call the authorities on Noelle to have Ryan removed from her custody, because she is an unfit mother, citing the fast-food, unwashed clothes, and her love life.

The Handmaid’s Tale ‘s dive into Aunt Lydia’s past highlights the complexity of the character and how she really did once care for people, especially children, and still does in her own twisted way. At the same time, it’s questionable whether the rejection by Jim is really enough of an explanation for such a fascinating character.

Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale season 3’s latest episode has revealed the backstory of Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd), explaining many of her actions in Gilead and her particular dislike of June (Elisabeth Moss).

Noelle helps Lydia apply make-up for a night out, and tells her about her dating life, including the fact she is pursuing a married man with two kids of his own. On New Year’s Eve, we see Lydia go out on a date with Jim, the Principal from her school.

She was already a devout Christian back then, but what The Handmaid’s Tale is most interested in exploring here is her loneliness and also just how much she cared for her students. We hear that she was married, but it didn’t work out, and that she practiced family law before becoming a teacher.

Who plays Aunt Lydia in Handmaid’s Tale?

Aunt Lydia’s Handmaid’s Tale Backstory Explained. When it comes to Gilead’s villains, Aunt Lydia is among the worst of the worst. Played by Ann Dowd on “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Lydia has enraged and disturbed fans since the show kicked off in 2017.

This twisted motherliness is apparent in Season 1’s “A Woman’s Place:” When Serena tells Aunt Lydia to remove Janine from an important dinner because of her missing eye, Lydia sympathizes with Janine.

Aunt Lydia uses fear to train Handmaids in becoming perfect birthing vessels. Specifically, she abuses her charges into sacrificing their bodies for the sake of God and Gilead. Dowd has a specific prayer (per Vanity Fair) that she believes describes her character: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will set your path straight.” The Handmaids’ horrific lives are divinely ordained, according to Lydia, and thus beyond feeble human doubt.

Rather than let the guards shoot the lot of them for their disobedience, Lydia begs them to spare the Handmaids, as she is responsible for them and will punish them herself. In Season 2, it is revealed that Lydia sent Janine to the Colonies, and punished the Handmaids with a mock execution.

Following Lydia’s outburst in the “Testimony” episode, Commander Lawrence told her to take her anger and frustration out on Janine, whose life no longer mattered to the higher-ups.

In the Season 3 episode “Unfit, ” we’re introduced to a pre-Gilead Lydia Clements. As it turns out, Aunt Lydia was once an elementary school teacher with a background in family law. This Lydia wore her hair down, and was once married to a man.

Emily suffers greatly at Lydia’s hands. Lydia has Emily’s lover murdered, forces Emily to undergo clitoridectomy, and sends Emily to the Colonies in Season 2. Lydia eventually brings Emily back, because they’re short on Handmaids, and pairs her with Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford). Finally, in the Season 2 finale “The Word,” Emily snaps and stabs Lydia in the back. While Lydia survives, the event changes her, making her an even harder character.

Related