The Handmaid's Tale Season 1 quotes

June Osborne: I used to think of my body as an instrument for the accomplishment of my will. I could use it to run, pick things up, make things happen. There were limits, of course, but my body was nonetheless one with me. It obeyed my commands, mostly without complaint. Not anymore. Now there's tending to be done. There's homemade penicillin. Mold scraped off, rotten fruit, an old Martha recipe. There's comfrey and marigold oil to make the skin heal faster. Almost bikini season. I almost died when we first got here, they said. Sepsis. Janine says I was talking to Hannah. I don't remember. Pain makes your world very small. My world has been this room. Today I venture forth. My world can't be small, Not now. Because the others need me to protect them. Gilead is out there. Gilead isn't afraid. It does not hurt or sleep. It keeps coming, it keeps searching for us. And they will keep coming forever and ever and ever.

June Osborne: Places like this have always been about fantasies. They were built so men could act like country lords. Pretend you're rich for a weekend. Now they're for fantasies of a different kind.

Serena Joy Waterford: Look, I don't know what the legal requirements are, but I need to separate my interests from Fred. I am done with him.

Mark Tuello: We can talk about that later.

Serena Joy Waterford: No, we can talk about it right now.

Mark Tuello: You're pregnant, Serena. The results from your blood test came back. Congratulations.

Aunt Lydia: That lieutenant is very determined. If you don't cooperate, I fear things might get quite a bit worse for you. Ofrobert, Oferic, Ofhoward and the others, all wanted fugitives in grave danger because of you. Bring them home.

June Osborne: This isn't their home.

Aunt Lydia: Because you corrupted them! They had a life of meaning here, a life of service.

June Osborne: There is no meaning in this place except violence. You ... You told those girls that if they followed the rules, they'd be okay. Then you sent them out to be raped and beaten and humiliated. Over and over and over. You failed them.

June Osborne: We slept in what had once been the gymnasium. We learned to whisper in the semi-darkness. We learned to lipread. Sarah. Elie. Brianna. Alma. Janine. Moira. June.

Rita Blue: Did you know in Gilead I was officially considered property of the Waterford family?

Mark Tuello: I did, yes.

Rita Blue: Registered and everything. Like my old Nissan Altima.

Aunt Lydia: I have sources. Witnesses to your involvement in Commander Winslow's disappearance.

Joseph Lawrence: Is that right?

Aunt Lydia: In addition, I have testaments to your many abuses of power. Black market activity. Not to mention your collaboration with your handmaid Ofjoseph.

Joseph Lawrence: Unless?

Aunt Lydia: Unless you arrange for my immediate reinstatement.

Joseph Lawrence: There it is. For a second, I thought you didn't have it in you.

Aunt Lydia: Is it that you didn't hear me, Commander?

Joseph Lawrence: No. No, I heard you. Loud and clear. So, uh ... What else you got?

Aunt Lydia: I beg your pardon?

Joseph Lawrence: I get it. You can bury me. I can only imagine the goods you have on my illustrious colleagues. Commander Calhoun. What's the dirt on him?

Aunt Lydia: I'm not one to traffic in gossip.

Joseph Lawrence: You just tried to blackmail me.

Aunt Lydia: Hardly gossip.

Joseph Lawrence: You want me to restore your position, I need my seat back at the table. And your information can help me get it. Let's fix this country. Let's make things right again. Together.

Aunt Lydia: I might consider a collaboration if I have your word that Ofjoseph would be put in my care. To be disciplined. Handled my way.

Joseph Lawrence: I can live with that.

Aunt Lydia: Good.

Moira Strand: What happened with Hannah? You said they took her. What happened? I'm not gonna force you to stay. I just wanna know.

June Osborne: They showed her to me. I saw her. But there was nothing I could do. For her. There was nothing I could do to help her. She didn't recognize me. She didn't know who I was. She was scared of me.

Moira Strand: Oh, God.

June Osborne: Everything that has happened to her, it's because of me.

Moira Strand: No. No, that is not true.

June Osborne: How can I go back without her? How can I show up without her?

Moira Strand: June, no one expects you to have her. They're waiting for a person, not a superhero. Even if you did get all those kids out.

June Osborne: But not her. Not my Hannah. I didn't have her. I tried. I really did. I did everything I could, but it wasn't enough. I was supposed to save her. 'Cause I'm her mommy. I'm her mother. It is my job to protect her. And I failed. How can I face him? How can I tell him that everything that has happened to her is because of me?

Moira Strand: No. That's not true. And that's Gilead talking. You know that's not true.

June Osborne: No, he is never gonna forgive me. He's never gonna forgive me.

Moira Strand: All these years, he has waited for you. And he has never given up on you. You need to have a little faith now too.

Serena Joy Waterford: I believe that the Lord brought you here so that I could make amends.

June Osborne: I brought myself here so that I could tell you how much I hate you. You don't deserve to make amends to anyone. The only thing that you deserve is a life full of suffering and shame. You have destroyed my life, my family, my friends, my country, and my child. There is no one less worthy of redemption than you.

Serena Joy Waterford: I'm sorry. I am begging for your forgiveness, and I'm begging for the Lord's mercy and for His understanding.

June Osborne: Do you know why God made you pregnant? So that when He kills that baby inside your womb, you will feel a fraction of the pain that you caused us when you tore our children from our arms! Do you understand me? [Serena Joy whimpers] DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!

June Osborne: My name is June Osborne. Fred Waterford and Serena Joy Waterford imprisoned me, beat me, and raped me. I came to the Waterfords' house in 2017. It was my second posting. A few days after my arrival, I was summoned to the drawing room, where I was asked to kneel in front of the Waterfords, as witnessed by their housekeeper Rita Blue and their driver Nick Blaine. Mr. Waterford read a story from the Bible about Rachel and Bilhah. After that, I was taken upstairs to her bedroom. There, Mr. Waterford raped me while his wife held me down. This happened for three successive nights every month when I was ovulating. These were the legally sanctioned rapes. There were others. Mrs. Waterford was desperate for me to get pregnant and questioned her husband's fertility. She ordered me to have sex with their driver, another violation of Gilead law that I could not refuse. Mr. Blaine and I had intercourse while Mrs. Waterford was in the room, watching us the entire time. I did become pregnant with my daughter Nichole. My daughter. During a visit to a doctor's office, the underground resistance movement in Gilead provided the means for me to escape, and I stayed in hiding for two months. Eventually, I found my way to an ally's small plane leaving for Canada, but just before takeoff, I was captured, and I was brought back to the Waterfords', where the mistreatment and abuse continued. At nine months pregnant, I went into false labor. For this, Mrs. Waterford was very angry with me and felt embarrassed in front of her friends who had gathered to witness the birth. As punishment, Mr. Waterford raped me again while she held me down. I struggled and pleaded for them to stop. They did not. After I gave birth, the Waterfords forbid any contact with my daughter Nichole, although I was still expected to provide breast milk for her. Eventually, I managed to convince them to let me to spend some time with her. Mrs. Waterford did make one attempt to improve conditions for the women and young girls of Gilead. She appeared in front of the Commanders' Council and read out loud from the Bible. For this crime of reading, they cut off her finger. Mr. Waterford, her husband, did not object. When I confronted Mr. Waterford about his brutality, he struck me and threatened to cut out my tongue. I hit him back, even though it could mean execution for me. I suppose I was past caring by then. Later, with the help of Rita Blue and other housekeepers in the neighborhood, I had a second opportunity to escape Gilead, this time with my daughter Nichole. But I couldn't leave my other daughter Hannah behind. So I stayed to try to save her. To bring her back to her father, my husband. I failed. This time, when I was captured, I was sent to a new household, where Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Lawrence did not subject me to any rapes, at great risk to their own lives. But Mr. Waterford later arranged for me to be raped by Mr. Lawrence as a test of loyalty. The Waterfords drank coffee while upstairs I had sex with Mr. Lawrence against both of our wishes in front of his wife. Mrs. Lawrence, Eleanor, was a kind and fragile woman, and this experience devastated her. That was the last time I saw Mr. Waterford until now. I am grateful to be speaking to you today. But mine is just one voice. Countless others will remain unheard, imprisoned by men like Fred Waterford. Women, my friends, who lost their lives and can never be heard. It is for those women that I ask the International Criminal Court to confirm the charges against this man and put him on trial. I ask for the maximum possible sentence. I ask for justice. Thank you.

Joseph Lawrence: Boy, it must be killing you that June won. Out of your reach, free as a bird. And singing like one, too.

Aunt Lydia: Well, she will answer to God.

Joseph Lawrence: We'll see. Maybe she'll just wrap that old goat around her little finger too. June won because she knows how to make people like her. People do not like you. They don't. I, I can sympathize. People don't like me either. But these reports will stop.

Aunt Lydia: Are you going to terminate me?

Joseph Lawrence: I don't want to. I don't. I want you back in form. Oh. The work that I’m doing, that we, that we are doing is the future of Gilead. And that means the world to me. Everything to me.

Aunt Lydia: Yes. Yes.

Joseph Lawrence: So, no. No. I'm not terminating you. But, uh, today, we have a situation. [pulls out a file containing information about Jainine] A fugitive Handmaid captured in Chicago. [Aunt Lydia gasps] The trouble that she's caused and the defiance. It's such a poor reflection on your training. On Gilead.

Aunt Lydia: Yes. Ah ... Commander, I, I assure you, this girl was led astray.

Joseph Lawrence: This girl was your responsibility, am I right?

Aunt Lydia: Yes. Yes, she is. Yes.

Joseph Lawrence: It's, uh, fortuitous, I think, to have her in our custody right now. I know you, you enjoy inflicting pain.

Aunt Lydia: Why, that isn't true.

Joseph Lawrence: I'm not judging. Everybody needs a hobby, I guess.

Aunt Lydia: Oh, that's not true. I, I object to this...

Joseph Lawrence: But it is counterproductive for you to inflict that pain on your students at the Red Center, let alone on your colleagues. Do you understand?

Aunt Lydia: I do, yes.

Joseph Lawrence: You need a better outlet. So do with her what you will.

Aunt Lydia: I don't know why you're so happy. June left you.

Janine: No, she didn't.

Aunt Lydia: Janine. Don't tell me she couldn't have taken you with her. She's done it before. Maybe this time, you were just too much trouble. It's difficult to know with that one. So unpredictable. Selfish.

Janine: I know what happens here. I know it will keep happening until I die. Just don't make me a Handmaid again, please.

June Osborne: It has to look like love. That's what he needs. Pretend you like it. Pretend you love it. Pretend you want him. He is your Commander. Make him your whole world. Your sun, your moon, and all your stars. Make him believe. Because your motherfucking life depends on it. Don't run. Don't kick. Don't scream. Don't bite it off. Don't. Bite.