Julia (Nineteen Eighty-Four)

Julia is a fictional character in George Orwell's 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. She is the lover of the novel's protagonist Winston Smith. Her last name is not revealed in the novel. The character is believed by some critics to be based on Orwell's second wife Sonia (née Brownell). Outwardly, Julia is integrated into the daily life of Oceania, being a propagandist for the Junior Anti-Sex League and fervent participator in the Two Minutes Hate directed against the enemy of the state, Emmanuel Goldstein. She secretly despises the ruling Party and rebels against its directives by engaging in recreational sex with Party members. After handing Winston a love note, they begin a clandestine affair. Julia has been portrayed in film, radio, theatre and television adaptations of the novel, including Jan Sterling in the 1956 film and Suzanna Hamilton in the 1984 film. She has been influential in other written works, notably Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel, The Handmaid's Tale. Criticism of Orwell's depiction of the character has been based on Julia's lack of character development, her complacency towards the Party's fabrications of historical events and the novel's failure to describe events from her perspective.