"Pen Is Envy, Aunt Lydia would say..." (186)

         Here, Atwood uses a play on words (Pen Is Envy spells "p**** envy" when the spaces and capital letters are removed) to show how the women in The Handmaid's Tale, even the Aunts, secretly envy the men's privileges of being able to read and write freely, and have other freedoms that men have.  The Aunts are not allowed to express how they feel openly, so this is likely their way of saying it to themselves so that no one else catches on. This also shows how oblivious the Handmaids are to their own treatment- even Offred does not understand the true meaning of the Aunts' slogan. The capital letter of the I makes this a clever hidden note in the book for anyone observant enough to notice and analyze.