The Handmaid's Tale is an opera composed by the Danish composer Poul Ruders, to a libretto by Paul Bentley based on the novel of the same name written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood.

The opera is written in a free tonal style, with clear influences from the operas of Alban Berg and from minimalism. The musical style is narrative rather than lyric, with nothing that could reasonably be described as an aria and only a few trios and quartets. There is however a beautiful and moving duet for the heroine and her double.

Much of the rather haunting atmosphere is built from the repetitive, chanting, choruses of the handmaids.

The opera was premiered in Copenhagen on 6 March 2000 by the Danish Royal Opera, conductor Michael Schonwandt, director Phyllida Lloyd, designer Peter McKintosh. It was subsequently recorded by the same company by Dacapo, currently the only recording of the opera in the catalogue.

This production transferred to the English National Opera in London's Coliseum Theatre on 3 April 2003. The opera's North American premiere was performed by the Minnesota Opera in May 2003, in a new production, conductor Anthony Walker, director Eric Simonson, designer Robert Israel. The Danish Royal Opera production transferred to Toronto, Margaret Atwood's home town, on 23 September 2004.

Critical reception to the opera's Copenhagen world premiere was almost uniformly positive (e.g. "Add The Handmaid's Tale to the list of recent works that the Metropolitan Opera should feel obliged to present" - New York Times). In London the reviews were mixed and many hostile. While the power of Atwood's story and skill of Bentley's libretto were recognised, some critics felt that the vocal writing was characterless and for some female characters too shrill and highly pitched to allow for proper diction, while the orchestral writing was judged by some to be bombastic. Others praised Ruders for his composition's sympathy to the spirit of the novel. The Minnesota and Toronto premieres were widely praised by the critics (e.g. "This well-conceived production restores confidence in the possibilities of contemporary opera as compelling theater" - USA Today).

Both the first Copenhagen and London seasons, and the later productions in America and Canada, were successes with the opera-going public, with houses consistently selling out.