Between Ethics and Survival: A Kohlbergian Reading of Margaret Atwood’s Marrying the Hangman

Abstract

This paper explores Margaret Atwood’s Marrying the Hangman through the ethical framework of Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral development, using the Heinz Dilemma as a reference point for interpreting moral choice under pressure. This study aims to examine how Atwood reconfigures this dilemma by placing a woman at its centre—one who must choose between death and survival through an act that defies conventional morality: marrying the executioner appointed to kill her. Methodologically, the poem is read through each stage of Kohlberg’s model to trace the protagonist’s psychological movement from fear, coercion, and dependence to a conscious assertion of life, however compromised.  These findings suggest that while Heinz’s dilemma foregrounds justice, law, and rational judgment, Atwood introduces a parallel moral universe shaped by vulnerability, gendered power, and the instinct to live. This study also engages with Carol Gilligan’s critique of Kohlberg in In a Different Voice, highlighting how women often reason ethically through care, responsibility, and relational survival rather than abstract rules. Atwood’s poem reinforces this view, showing that moral action may emerge not from ideal choices, but from the only choices available.  In conclusion, the analysis reveals that Marrying the Hangman challenges traditional definitions of morality by demonstrating how survival itself can be a moral act in an oppressive world. This reading invites further research into how women’s ethical decisions are represented in literature, particularly when power, autonomy, and survival intersect. The poem ultimately asks whether morality can remain intact when life must be negotiated at the intersection of power and death.