<P> In the near future, fertility rates collapse as a result of sexually transmitted diseases and environmental pollution . With this chaos, the totalitarian, theonomic government of "Gilead" establishes rule in the former United States in the aftermath of a civil war . Society is organized by power - hungry leaders along with a new, militarized, hierarchical regime of fanaticism and newly created social classes, in which women are brutally subjugated, and by law are not allowed to work, own property, handle money, or read . Worldwide infertility has resulted in the conscription of the few remaining fertile women in Gilead, called "Handmaids", according to an extremist interpretation of a Biblical account . They are assigned to the homes of the ruling elite, where they must submit to ritualized rape by their male masters in order to become pregnant and bear children for those men and their wives . </P> <P> Alongside the red - clad Handmaids, much of society is now grouped into classes that dictate their freedoms and duties . Women are divided into a small range of social categories, each one signified by a similarly - styled plain dress in a specific color: Handmaids wear red, Marthas (who are housekeepers and cooks) wear green, and Wives (who are expected to run their households) wear blue . Econowives, the lower - class women who still have minimal agency, are sort of a mixture of all these categories, and they wear gray (a departure from the book in which Econowives wear stripes). Women prisoners are called Carols and are worked to death clearing toxic waste . Another class of women, Aunts (who train and oversee the Handmaids), wear brown . Additionally, the Eyes are a secret police watching over the general populace for signs of rebellion, Hunters track down people attempting to flee the country, and Jezebels are prostitutes in secret brothels catering to the elite ruling class . </P> <P> June Osborne, renamed Offred (Elisabeth Moss), is the Handmaid assigned to the home of the Gileadan Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) and his wife Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski). Offred is subject to strict rules and constant scrutiny; an improper word or deed on her part can lead to brutal punishment . Offred, who is named after her male master like all Handmaids, can remember the "time before", when she was married and had a daughter, a job, a bank account, and her own name and identity, but all she can safely do now is follow the rules of Gilead in hopes that she can someday live free again and be reunited with her daughter . The Waterfords, key players in the rise of Gilead, have their own conflicts with the realities of the society they have helped create . </P> <Ul> <Li> Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne / Offred, a woman who was captured while attempting to escape to Canada with her husband, Luke, and daughter, Hannah . Due to her fertility, she is made a Handmaid to Commander Fred Waterford and his wife, Serena Joy, and is named "Offred". </Li> <Li> Joseph Fiennes as Commander Fred Waterford, a high - ranking government official and June's master . Both he and his wife played an instrumental role in Gilead's founding . He wishes to have more contact with June outside of what is lawful between a Handmaid and her master, and starts inviting her to play nightly games of Scrabble . </Li> <Li> Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy Waterford, Fred's wife and a former conservative cultural activist . She appears to have accepted her new role in a society that she helped create . She is poised and deeply religious, but capable of great cruelty and is often callous to June . She is desperate to become a mother . </Li> <Li> Alexis Bledel as Emily / Ofglen / Ofsteven, June's shopping partner . Although June is initially wary of her, it is revealed Ofglen is not as pious as she seems, and the two become friends . Ofglen had a wife and son, and was a university lecturer in cellular biology . Being homosexual is punishable by death in Gilead, and most university professors are sent to labour camps, but Ofglen was spared and made a Handmaid, due to her fertility . She is later captured and punished for her relationship with a Martha, and is sent to another household where she becomes "Ofsteven". She is involved with a resistance movement called "Mayday". </Li> <Li> Madeline Brewer as Janine / Ofwarren / Ofdaniel, a Handmaid who entered the Red Center for training at the same time as June and considers June a friend due to her kind treatment . Initially non-compliant, Janine's right eye is removed as a punishment . She becomes mentally unstable due to her treatment and often behaves in temperamental or childlike ways . She gives birth to a child for Warren and Naomi Putnam, whom they name "Angela", but Janine insists the baby's name is "Charlotte". Janine is later reassigned and becomes "Ofdaniel". </Li> <Li> Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia, a woman in charge of overseeing the Handmaids in their reeducation and duties . She is brutal and subjects insubordinate Handmaids to harsh physical punishment, but she also cares for her charges and believes deeply in the Gileadean mission and doctrine . She appears to have a soft spot for Janine, and even goes so far as to address her by her given name on occasion . Showrunner Miller has suggested that Aunt Lydia was a schoolteacher before Gilead, and Dowd has said this, and her own upbringing as a student at Catholic schools, informs her performance . </Li> <Li> O.T. Fagbenle as Lucas "Luke" Bankole, June's husband from before Gilead . Because he and June began their relationship before his divorce from his first wife, their union is considered invalid in the new society . June is considered an adulteress and their daughter, Hannah, is considered illegitimate . Initially, June believes he has been killed, but it is later revealed Luke managed to escape to Canada . </Li> <Li> Max Minghella as Nick Blaine, Commander Waterford's driver and a former drifter from Michigan who has feelings for June . June and Nick develop an intimate relationship and she eventually discovers that he is an Eye, a spy for Gilead . </Li> <Li> Samira Wiley as Moira / Ruby, June's best friend since college . She is already at the Red Center when June enters Handmaid training but escapes before being assigned to a home . She is recaptured and becomes "Ruby", a Jezebel . She seems to have given up hope of ever being free, but on meeting June again regains the conviction to escape . </Li> <Li> Amanda Brugel as Rita, a Martha at the Waterford home . She had a son who died fighting in the civil war when he was 19 years old . </Li> </Ul>

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