Wondering What's Up With Commander Lawrence's Wife on The Handmaid's Tale? You're Not Alone

Warning: Some spoilers for season three of The Handmaid’s Tale ahead!

In the third season of The Handmaid’s Tale, we reach a clearer understanding of our favorite central characters, such as Emily and June. But there are two new Gilead elites who have thoroughly confounded us: Joseph and Eleanor Lawrence, played respectively by Bradley Whitford and Julie Dretzin. While we don’t quite know where his loyalties lie, Commander Lawrence has shown that he can help the handmaids whenever he feels like it. But it’s harder to make sense of what’s going on with his wife, who has appeared disturbed and out of sorts since we first meet her. Aunt Lydia isn’t the only person suspicious of her; we’re also curious about her background as well. So what’s going on with Eleanor? Let’s investigate.

We should start from when we first meet her. In addition to being physically frail, Eleanor seems to suffer from a mental illness of some kind. Joseph often tells people that she’s not feeling well, locking her up in her room. This happens both times that Aunt Lydia comes to visit in seasons two and three. Whatever is going on behind closed doors, we have no idea.

After she talks to Emily in season two, it’s clear that Eleanor feels troubled by her husband’s role in Gilead, since he was the one who started the awful Colonies. We learn that she was formerly an art professor, which may be why she and her husband may be fond of Emily, who too was an academic in her former life.

Source: Read Full Article