Since her relatively minor role inThe Handmaid’s Taleback in 2018, Sydney Sweeney has become one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Yet, Sweeney has arguably never given a more emotive performance than her first significant part in a major release.
The actor only featured in thecast ofThe Handmaid’s Talefor a single season, but her role is still among the most memorable and moving of the entire series. The youthful innocence of Sweeney’s character, combined with her principled refusal to renounce her feelings, accentuates the horrifying cruelty at the heart of the TV show’s fictional society.
Season 2 is one ofThe Handmaid Tale’s best, thanks in part to Sydney Sweeney’s compelling characterization of Eden Blaine, despite her appearing in just seven episodes of the season. Eden garners particular sympathy from the show’s central protagonist, June Osborne, whose reaction to her fate makes it even harder to bear.
The Handmaid’s Talegave us an early glimpse of what Sydney Sweeney could doas an actor. More than its place in her overall career trajectory, however, Sweeney’s role in the series still stands out in its own right as a heart-rending work of tragedy.
7 Years After Season 2, The Handmaid’s Tale Is Still Sydney Sweeney’s Saddest Role
Eden Blaine Is Among The Show’s Most Tragic Characters
Introduced following the show’s acclaimed first season,Sydney Sweeney’s role inThe Handmaid’s Taleis the most prominent example of an Econowife, a social stratum of women belonging to the underclass in the world of the series.Econowives are considered morally pure enough to marry low-ranking men, doubling up as their child-bearing sex slaves and domestic servants.
The first tragedy that befalls Sweeney’s Eden Blaine is that she’s married off while still a child, to a man who doesn’t love her, but who feels uncomfortable oppressing her. This forced marriage inevitably ends in disaster, andEden falls in love with another man, Isaac, with whom she attempts to elope.
In an especially cruel twist of fate, Eden and Isaac are reported by her father as they try to escapeThe Handmaid Tale’s oppressive society, Gilead. They’re convicted of adultery and sentenced to bedrowned in front of a watching audience, which includes her mortified husband, Nick, and the show’s central hero, June Osborne.
Thisharrowing end to a desperately sad storylinegives Sweeney a lot of heavy lifting to do as an actor, although without much dialogue to work with. She plays her part with conviction, blending wide-eyed wonder with a depth of feeling few other characters muster during the course of the series.
Why Eden Blaine’s Fate In The Handmaid’s Tale Is So Devastating
Eden Believes In Her Own Punishment Even More Than Those Doling It Out
What makes the death of Sweeney’s character even worse isthe opportunity she’s given to renounce her actions, moments before she dies. If she does, her life might be spared. But Eden’s own staunchly Christian beliefs dissuade her from doing so.
She believes that she deserves to be put to deathfor having followed her feelings and dishonored her sham of a marriage. Instead of absolving herself of her sins, she recites a bible verse to reinforce her faith in God’s grace.
We’re forced to watch on in horror, along with Nick and June, as she and Isaac are thrown into a swimming pool with a weight around their ankles. This outcome isparticularly devastating in light of the second chanceEden appears to have been given.
The belief system we see practiced inThe Handmaid’s Taledisproportionately oppresses the women of Gileadto a profound degree, as they are subjugated to men in every aspect of their lives. The fact that Eden Blaine buys into this belief system ultimately seals her fate, as this moral code forces her to spurn the chance of being pardoned.
In this way, the tragedy of Eden’s death is twofold. Sweeney’s character is oppressed by the physical violence, which prevents her from escaping Gilead with Isaac and commits her to a torturous form of execution. Butshe’s also oppressed by the beliefs that convince her this violence is a righteous punishmentfor her actions.
The Handmaid’s Tale Hinted At Sydney Sweeney’s Career Success Later On
Her Performances In Euphoria & Immaculate Were Clearly Influenced By Her Role In The Series
Seven years after she played this role, Eden Blaine remains one ofSydney Sweeney’s best TV characters. While she may have received more recognition and acclaim for her performances as Olivia Mossbacher inThe White Lotusand Cassie Howard inEuphoria,The Handmaid’s Talewas the series that first showcased her range as an actor.
Sydney Sweeney’s first lead role in a TV show was playing Emaline Addario in Netflix’s 2018 comedy-dramaEverything Sucks!, but the series was cancelled after just one season due to low ratings.
The emotional depths Sweeney plumbs to make us feel the sympathy we do for Edenprefigures her tragic portrayal ofEuphoria’s Cassie, as well as the brutalizing stoicism of Sister Cecilia in the 2024 horror movieImmaculate. Without Eden Blaine, it’s plausible that neither of these roles would have happened.
Sydney Sweeney might not be the name we remembered fromThe Handmaid’s Talewhen it was first released on Hulu. But her painfully tragic character is one of the best things in the show, and is still a career highlight for this burgeoning Hollywood A-lister.
The Handmaid’s Tale
Cast
The Handmaid’s Tale is a television adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel, released in 2017. It is set in a dystopian future where a woman is compelled to live as a concubine under a strict fundamentalist theocracy.
