The Handmaid's Tale Trivia Quiz Guide

The Testaments premieres on Hulu on April 8, 2026 — and if you haven't revisited The Handmaid's Tale in a while, it is worth brushing up before you dive in. Margaret Atwood's sequel novel (Booker Prize winner, 2019) picks up 15 years after the original story, told through the eyes of three narrators: Aunt Lydia, Agnes (June's daughter Hannah), and Daisy. The Hulu adaptation finally brings the saga to a close.

Before you take our Handmaid's Tale Trivia Quiz, here's everything you need to know about the world Atwood built — the rules of Gilead, the characters who defined it, and the moments you should never have forgotten.

The World of Gilead

Gilead is a theocratic dictatorship that took over what was formerly the northeastern United States after a catastrophic drop in birth rates and a violent coup. Every element of its society is designed around a single obsession: fertility.

The social hierarchy is rigid:

Commanders — elite men who run Gilead's government and military

Wives — the Commanders' wives, who wear teal and represent Gilead's ideal of domestic femininity

Handmaids — fertile women assigned to Commander households to bear children; they wear red

Marthas — older women who serve as domestic staff in grey uniforms

Aunts — women who train and police the Handmaids; they wield unusual authority for women in Gilead

Econowives — wives of lower-status men who must perform all household roles themselves

Handmaids are identified by their Commanders' first names: Offred (of Fred), Ofglen (of Glen), and so on. Losing your Handmaid name is the first step toward losing your identity entirely.

June Osborne: The Heart of the Story

June Osborne (née Bankole) is a journalist and mother who is captured when Gilead's coup succeeds. Her daughter Hannah is taken from her. Her husband Luke escapes to Canada. June is assigned to Commander Fred Waterford's household as Offred.

Over five seasons, June transforms from a woman trying to survive into a woman determined to burn the whole thing down. Her arc is defined by:

Learning the Mayday resistance exists — and making contact with it

Finding Hannah / Angela — June's obsessive need to reunite with her daughter drives the middle seasons

The Jezebels revelation — discovering that Gilead's most powerful men maintain a private brothel while publicly enforcing purity

Her escape to Canada — and the impossible choice of what to do next

The trial of Fred Waterford — one of the most cathartic moments in prestige TV history

June is played with extraordinary intensity by Elisabeth Moss, who won the Emmy for her portrayal and is as central to the show's identity as the red robe itself.

Key Characters You Need to Know

Serena Joy Waterford — The Commander's Wife is one of the most complex characters on television. She helped design the very system that oppresses her, wielding ideological influence she is now denied the ability to use. Her relationship with June cycles between collaboration, cruelty, and something that refuses easy definition.

Nick Blaine — The Waterford household's driver is also an Eye (secret police) and, eventually, something much more to June. His moral ambiguity is one of the show's constant slow burns.

Moira — June's best friend from before Gilead, whose escape to Canada in Season 1 provides the series' first real catharsis. Her survival is not a coincidence — it is a statement.

Aunt Lydia — The show's most fascinating antagonist. She believes completely in what she does, which makes her more terrifying than someone who merely follows orders. In The Testaments, her perspective becomes central.

Commander Lawrence — A Gilead founder who grows increasingly horrified by what he created. His arc in the later seasons is the show's sharpest examination of complicity.

The Testaments: What's Coming

Atwood's 2019 sequel is narrated by three women:

Aunt Lydia — Working from within Gilead's power structure to document its crimes and ultimately help bring the regime down

Agnes — Hannah Osborne, raised in Gilead as Angela, trained as a potential Wife, trying to understand who she really is

Daisy — A Canadian girl who discovers, in the worst possible way, that her connection to Gilead runs deeper than she knew

The novel is built as a series of documents found in a distant future — echoing the "historical notes" framing of the original book. The Hulu adaptation stars Ann Dowd (returning as Aunt Lydia), alongside new cast members filling the roles of Agnes and Daisy.

If you know The Handmaid's Tale well, The Testaments will reward you with answers to questions the original series left open. If you're coming in cold, expect to do some catching up.

Test Your Gilead Knowledge

Now that you're refreshed — or if you always knew this and you're just here to prove it — take the quiz:

The Handmaid's Tale Trivia Quiz →

Ten questions. Medium difficulty. Covers the book, the series, and the world of Gilead.

Related Quizzes

Which Handmaid's Tale Character Are You? — June, Moira, Serena Joy, Nick, or Emily?

Which Testaments Character Are You? — Aunt Lydia, Agnes, or Daisy?

Which Dystopian World Would You Survive? — Gilead, Panem, or something else?

Which The Boys Character Are You? — Another show about power and how people abuse it

Dark Triad Test — Measure your own Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy