Is "The Handmaid's Tale" ultimately a feminist work of literature, or does it offer a critique of feminism?

"The Handmaid's Tale" is a feminist work by Margaret Atwood, who is famously liberal.  But the book does contain a critique of feminism.  In an interview with Randomhouse, Atwood states, "This is a book about what happens when certain casually held attitudes about women are taken to their logical conclusions."  It emphasizes how far we have come as women and how easily we could lose it all. 

Not only is this book about what can happen if we become too complacent (there's your critique of feminism), it makes the point that societies like Gilead exist and we're not so far removed from them.  In a letter to her readers, Atwood shares her concerns: "I found myself increasingly alarmed by statements made frequently by religious leaders in the United States; and then a variety of events from around the world could not be ignored, particularly the rising fanaticism of the Iranian monotheocracy... There is nothing new about the society depicted in [the book] except the time and place."

Atwood shares that there are those in the US who would welcome a Gilead-like theocracy: "If you were going to take over the United States, how would you do it?  ...You would ... say, 'I have the word from God and this is the way we should run things.' That probably would have ... a chance of working, and in fact there are a number of movements in the States saying just that, and getting lots of dollars and influence."