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This article is about the historic type of domestic servant. For other uses, see The Handmaid.
The Pharaoh's Handmaidens by John Collier
A handmaiden, handmaid or maidservant is a personal maid or female servant.[1] Depending on culture or historical period, a handmaiden may be of slave status or may be simply an employee. However, the term handmaiden explicitly implies lowly status.
Contents
1Depictions in Abrahamic texts
2Mary
3In popular culture
4See also
5References
Depictions in Abrahamic texts
The Annunciation by Murillo, 1655–1660, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
In the Hebrew Bible, the term handmaid is applied to a female servant who serves her mistress, as in the case of Hagar being described as Sarai's handmaid,[2] Zilpah being Leah's handmaid[3] and Bilhah as Rachel's handmaid.[4][5] In each of these cases, the mistress "gave" their handmaid to their husbands "to wife", to bear his "seed" (children). The use in the Torah of the prefix "to", as in "gave to wife", may indicate that the wife is a concubine or inferior wife.[6] The text repeats that these people remain handmaids of their mistress though they are also the concubine of the mistress's husband. They are referred to interchangeably by the Hebrew terms אָמָה (’āmāh) and שִׁפְחָה (šip̄ḥāh).
Mary
In Christianity, Mary, the mother of Jesus is referred to as the "handmaid of the Lord" or "servant of the Lord",[7] both of which are titles of honour for the mother of Jesus.[8] The Gospel of Luke describes Mary as the "handmaid of the Lord" (Greek δούλη, doulē) when she gives her consent to the message of the Angel (cf. Luke 1:38), and when she proclaims the greatness of the Lord because of "the great things" he has worked in her (cf. Luke 1:49)."[8]
In popular culture
The Handmaid's Tale, а dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood.
The Handmaid's Tale (1990 film adaptation of the novel)
The Handmaid's Tale (2000 operatic adaptation of the novel)
The Handmaid's Tale (2017 TV serialisation of the novel)
The Handmaiden, a 2016 South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook.
In the A Song of Ice and Fire book series by George R.R. Martin, the female servants of a queen or a lady are referred to as "handmaidens" and the term is used to refer to many characters, most notably Queen Margaery Tyrell's cousins, Elinor Tyrell and Megga Tyrell who serve as Margaery's handmaidens starting from her arrival in King's Landing.
In the sci-fi Star Wars franchise, the term refers to the female assistants of a reigning queen, most notably the Royal Naboo Handmaidens on the planet Naboo.
See also
Domestic worker
Henchman
Lady's maid
Lady-in-waiting
Nurse stereotypes
References
^It is also used metaphorically for something whose primary role is to serve or assist."Handmaiden - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary". Merriam-webster.com. 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
^Genesis 16:3
^Genesis 30:9
^Genesis 30:3-4
^"This Biblical Story Is At The Heart Of The Handmaid's Tale". Retrieved 2018-08-30.
^Women, similar to wives from vadimcherny.org
^Closs, Michael P. (29 June 2016). The Book of Mary: A Commentary on the Protevangelium of James. FriesenPress. p. 27. ISBN 9781460284872.
^ abPress, Liturgical (2012). Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Liturgical Press. p. 192. ISBN 9780814634868.
English Journal
Queensland's proposed surrogacy legislation: an opportunity for national reform.
Johnson T.SourceFaculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane. tjohnson@bond.edu.au
Journal of law and medicine.J Law Med.2010 Feb;17(4):617-32.
Surrogacy has existed since Biblical times when Hagar, the maidservant of the infertile Sarah, acted as a surrogate to bear Sarah and her husband, Abraham, a son. Despite the longevity of the practice of surrogacy, modern society has been reluctant to embrace surrogacy arrangements due to the ethica
Goitrous beauty in Artemisia Gentileschi's Judith and her Maidservant.
Christopoulou-Aletra H, Papavramidou N, Pozzilli P.SourceSchool of Medicine, PO Box 356, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Thyroid : official journal of the American Thyroid Association.Thyroid.2007 Jan;17(1):37-8.
This paper discusses the representation of goiter in Artemisia Gentileschi's painting Judith and her Maidservant. Judith is depicted with a goiter, which despite being the manifestation of a possible hypothyroidism, in no way detracts from her beauty. The case is presented in the wider context of th
… The character Sosuke, who resides in a three-person household with his wife and a gejo (maidservant) in a humble rented house nearly 20 minutes on foot from the final station of a rail line, lives in straitened circumstances. … Despite his gloomy thoughts on a rainy day with a hole in the sole of his shoe, he cannot afford to buy new shoes.But why does this household, which is not particularly wealthy, have a live-in maidservant? …
… The term used in both of these works is gejo (maidservant), not jochu (domestic help). … Osan, the maidservant who appears in I am a Cat, is depicted as an unthinking, violent type. … In contrast, Kiyo, the maidservant seen in Botchan, is depicted as a faithful servant who loved her master blindly. …
