Shunammite is one of Agnes’s classmates in primary school. Shunammite claims to be Agnes’s friend, but appears to only cozy up to her because of the ways in which it benefits her. Shunammite is rude and domineering and reveals that Agnes’s biological mother was a Handmaid, because she enjoys the attention and power that the revelation give her. Unlike Agnes and Becka, Shunammite parrots every belief that Gilead teaches her and looks forward to marriage. After Agnes escapes the prospect of marrying Commander Judd, Shunammite happily marries him instead. However, Judd begins to slowly murder her with rat poison so he can marry a new, younger girl instead, until Aunt Lydia intervenes and hides Shunammite in Ardua Hall.
Shunammite Quotes in The Testaments
The The Testaments quotes below are all either spoken by Shunammite or refer to Shunammite. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 15
Quotes
Her name was Ofkyle, since my father’s name was Commander Kyle. “Her name would have been something else earlier,” said Shunammite. “Some other man’s. They get passed around until they have a baby. They’re all sluts anyway, they don’t need real names.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Testaments LitChart as a printable PDF.
Shunammite Quotes in The Testaments
The The Testaments quotes below are all either spoken by Shunammite or refer to Shunammite. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 15
Quotes
Her name was Ofkyle, since my father’s name was Commander Kyle. “Her name would have been something else earlier,” said Shunammite. “Some other man’s. They get passed around until they have a baby. They’re all sluts anyway, they don’t need real names.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
