<P> Luke was Offred's husband prior to the formation of Gilead . He had divorced his first wife to marry her . Under Gilead, all divorces were retroactively nullified, resulting in Offred being considered an adulteress and their daughter a bastard . Offred was forced to become a Handmaid and her daughter was given to a loyalist family . Since their attempt to escape to Canada, Offred has heard nothing of Luke . </P> <P> Pieixoto is the "co-discoverer (with Professor Knotly Wade) of Offred's tapes". In his presentation at an academic conference, he talks about "the' Problems of Authentication in Reference to The Handmaid's Tale"'. </P> <P> The novel is set in an indeterminate future, speculated to be around the year 2005, with a fundamentalist theonomy ruling the territory of what had been the United States but is now the Republic of Gilead . Individuals are segregated by categories and dressed according to their social functions . The complex sumptuary laws (dress codes) play a key role in imposing social control within the new society and serve to distinguish people by sex, occupation, and caste . </P> <P> The action takes place in what once was the Harvard Square neighbourhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Atwood studied at Radcliffe College, located in this area . </P>

How big is gilead in the handmaid's tale
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