25

Agnes introduces her account of Gilead’s marriage preparations, noting the intent to marry girls early to prevent love or premarital sex, with severe punishments used as deterrents. She frames her perspective as both a prospective bride and an observer of the Aunts’ role.

Paula summons Agnes before Commander Kyle, Aunt Vidala, and the unfamiliar Aunt Gabbana. Aunt Gabbana clinically assesses Agnes’s maturity and physique, even inspecting her teeth, and declares they will begin searching for a match among Commander families. Paula insists on high status and quick results, and Aunt Gabbana acknowledges the expected donation to Ardua Hall.

Agnes realizes she is being disposed of and anticipates vanishing from school and friends, reappearing only as a Wife in blue. Commander Kyle mildly suggests she may be young, but Paula overrides concerns. Agnes is dismissed with assurances that she’s “privileged,” which she recognizes as false.

Paula then halts Agnes’s schooling. Isolated at home, Agnes is assigned petit point for a husband’s future footstool; she secretly stitches a small skull as a memento mori and a private jab at Paula. She reflects on forbidden reading, the Aunts’ claimed special strength, and wonders what makes an Aunt.

Finally, Marthas bring boxes so Agnes can “put away childish things,” signaling her imminent removal from the house. After Paula leaves, Agnes, grieving her past with Tabitha, throws the Wife doll from her cherished dollhouse, a small act of resistance against her enforced role.