Rather than being married to Commanders, Econowives are fertile women who are married off to Gilead's more ordinary men. As well as being expected to have children, Econowives are expected to take care of their households, and they aren't assigned Marthas to help them.
In the age of infertility, Wives were still awarded the luxury of living in the upper class, so long as they had children by any means necessary. For those too old to bear their own, or those who are infertile, Wives must agree to pick out a suitable Handmaid for the Commanders to impregnate.
In the story, an environmental disaster has led to most women becoming infertile, and the small number who are still able to become pregnant are forced to become handmaids, women who are owned by the ruling elite and systematically raped in order to provide them with children.
Standing (somewhat) faithfully behind (not next to) their husbands who rank as Commanders, the Wives are generally infertile women tasked with expanding the population of Gilead through the help of an assigned handmaid. Their infertility, however, isn't always confirmed.
But what's the cause? In The Handmaid's Tale, infertility is linked to another one of Gilead's prominent problems: pollution. As revealed in the season 1 episode "A Woman's Place," inorganic farming and radioactivity are to blame for declining fertility.
The Handmaid is sent on to the next assignment. By giving birth, she can't be considered an unwoman. But giving birth and giving the child away is painful - it is part of her punishment, the pregnancies and unwanted adoptions part of her repaying her debt to society for her sins.
No, the woman on the floor is the very NOT pregnant wife of the husband Janine was forced to have sex with. But her best gal pals don't want her to feel like she's missing out or that Janine might be superior for physically birthing the child, so they pretend she is due for labor any moment.
Rather than being married to Commanders, Econowives are fertile women who are married off to Gilead's more ordinary men. As well as being expected to have children, Econowives are expected to take care of their households, and they aren't assigned Marthas to help them.
Blue is often associated with the Virgin Mary and purity and serenity - it used to be considered a very feminine colour, so perhaps that is why the Wives wear it. Red is considered the colour of life, due to the association with blood, and Handmaids are all about bringing forth new life and fertility.
The Waterfords were previously believed to both be infertile. Fred had failed to get both June and a previous handmaid pregnant, despite many attempts even outside Gilead's "ceremony". Serena was shot in her lower abdomen by a protester in the days before Gilead, and her injuries damaged her reproductive organs.
Aside from mourning, the role of Widows in Gilead is largely unknown. In the novel, Offred considers that Widows are becoming a less common sight in Gilead. This could imply that Widows are either killed or expelled to the Colonies once they are no longer of use in society.
She is the wife of Luke Bankole and the mother of a young daughter, Hannah. She is also the mother of Nichole who she had with Nick in Gilead.
Unbaby, or shredder, is the term used in the Republic of Gilead to describe infants that are suffering from birth defects or physical deformities. These die shortly after birth due to their defects. They are usually taken away to be disposed of.
On the surface, Marthas are a downtrodden lot — not powerful enough to be Wives or Lydias, not fertile or young enough to be Econowives. The name "Martha" comes from the bible, after one of Jesus' friends who is a pragmatic and focused on domestic concerns; hence the Marthas' role as housekeepers in Gilead.
The Marthas, on the other hand, are clad in a hazy, sickly green, like plants starved of water and sunlight that are now fading slowly to dust. And yet, as we learned at the end of season two, the green of the Marthas' clothing may also be a sign of new growth and deep roots.
Econowives can be fertile or infertile. This position has less to do with the ability to bear children, and more to do with status within Gilead. Econowives have limited individual rights unlike Handmaids. However, they are married to men that have lower standing than Commanders.
Women's Prayvaganzas are weddings for the Wives' daughters, mass ceremonies in which girls as young as fourteen get married. In a few years, the brides will be girls who do not remember life before Gilead.
Aunt Lydia's relationship with Offred symbolises the oppressive control that Gilead has over women. Furthermore, by placing a woman in such a violent role, Atwood is suggesting that women can be and are complicit in perpetuating dangerous patriarchal ideas and oppressing other women.
In Gilead, wives are selected from among the daughters of respectable citizens once the girls have reached childbearing age. Their mothers arrange their marriages to Angels who have recently returned from the front line.
June Osborne
Luke and June first began seeing each other when Luke was still married to Annie (Kelly Jenrette), whom he later divorced. Due to their marriage being Luke's second, June is considered an "adulteress" in Gilead, and because of her fertility, is forced to be a handmaid as reparation for her sin.
To become an Aunt, a young woman must receive a calling to higher service. They then go through an interview process at Ardua Hall with the four Founding Aunts (Elizabeth, Helena, Vidala and Lydia in that order) to see if they have the right temperament to formally join.
Handmaids who successfully bear children continue to live at their commander's house until their children are weaned, at which point they are sent to a new assignment to a new commander. Those who produce children will never be declared "Unwomen" or sent to the Colonies, even if they never have another baby.
In the show, there's a black Commander who got his wife pregnant. And the novel mentions that very few lucky wives of commanders get pregnant. (Albeit it is mentioned that some wives, like the handmaids, resort to other men). So, it seems to be that married couples are allowed sex.
In the story, the fictional US Republic of Gilead is a totalitarian theocracy in which, after an epidemic of infertility, the few women who can bear children are made to become surrogates.
All this to say, gestational surrogacy as it exists in today's world, is not even depicted in The Handmaid's Tale – What is depicted is an alternate reality where reproductive freedoms no longer exist legally or ethically, and anything outside the scope of heteronormativity is brutally rejected.