The Edible Woman is Margaret Atwood's debut novel, first published in 1969, which played a key role in establishing her as a prominent prose writer. The story follows Marian, a young woman whose orderly and consumer-focused life begins to unravel. As her engagement progresses, Marian feels a growing separation between her body and her sense of self. She starts to perceive food with human attributes, leading to a disturbing inability to eat and a metaphorical sense of cannibalism.
In a 1979 foreword for the Virago edition, Atwood described the novel as protofeminist rather than fully feminist. The novel delves into gender stereotypes through characters who either conform to or challenge these roles. The shift from first-person to third-person narrative highlights Marian's gradual disconnection from reality, with the return to first-person perspective at the end symbolizing her reclaiming control over her life.
Food and clothing are significant symbols in the novel, offering insight into the characters' personalities, moods, and motivations. The settings also reflect character differences, such as Duncan's presence in everyday locations like laundromats and hotels, versus Peter's more refined settings like upscale bars and a new apartment. These varying environments contrast a more liberated, unpredictable existence with a confined, controlled life, underscoring the challenges women faced during the era where freedom was fraught with uncertainty and marriage posed its own set of issues.
Although published alongside the rise of the women's movement in North America, Atwood considers the novel protofeminist because it was written in 1965, anticipating the developments of second-wave feminism.
Summary of The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood
Marian MacAlpin works at a market research firm, where she is responsible for writing survey questions and sampling products. She lives in a shared apartment on the top floor of a house in Toronto with her roommate Ainsley and is in a relationship with her dependable but unexciting boyfriend, Peter. Marian also stays in touch with Clara, a college friend who is now a perpetually pregnant housewife.
Ainsley announces her intention to have a child without marrying. When Marian expresses her shock, Ainsley responds,
"The thing that ruins families these days is the husbands."Ainsley seeks out Marian's friend Len, known for his relationships with naive young women, to father her child.
At work, Marian is tasked with collecting opinions for a survey on a new beer brand. During her door-to-door inquiries, she meets Duncan, an English graduate student whose unusual and quirky responses captivate her.
Marian later attends a dinner with Peter and Len, where Ainsley appears dressed provocatively as part of her scheme to seduce Len. Marian becomes detached from her own feelings as Peter recounts a gruesome hunting story to Len. She reflects,
"After a while I noticed that a large drop of something wet had materialized on the table. I poked it with my finger and smudged it around a little before I realized with horror that it was a tear."Marian flees the restaurant, and Peter chases her, criticizing her for not conforming to Ainsley's supposed proper behavior.
At the end of the evening, Peter proposes to Marian. When asked to pick a wedding date, Marian surprises herself by becoming unusually passive, saying,
"I’d rather have you decide that. I’d rather leave the big decisions up to you."She genuinely means this surprising surrender.
Marian and Duncan have a chance encounter at a laundromat, engage in awkward conversation, and share a kiss. Shortly after, Marian begins to struggle with food, particularly meat, as she starts to empathize with it in a disturbing way. She finds it impossible to eat anything with bones, tendons, or fibers.
Ainsley's plan to get pregnant by Len succeeds. When Len discovers Ainsley's pregnancy, he confides in Marian, who admits that it was Ainsley's intention all along. Len shares his childhood fear of eggs, which leads Marian to lose her appetite for soft-boiled eggs and, eventually, for vegetables and cake.
Peter decides to host a party, inviting Marian's colleagues, Duncan, and Duncan's roommates. He suggests Marian buy a more glamorous dress, so she acquiesces and purchases a bold red dress. Ainsley does her makeup for the party. When Duncan arrives and comments on Marian's transformed appearance,
"You didn't tell me it was a masquerade. Who the hell are you supposed to be?"he leaves, and Marian follows him to a seedy hotel where they have unsatisfactory sex. The next morning, Marian finds she cannot eat anything.
After Duncan leaves, Marian feels that Peter is metaphorically consuming her. She bakes a cake shaped like a woman and offers it to Peter, saying,
"This is what you really want"as a symbol of his consuming her. Disturbed, Peter departs, and Marian realizes the cake is just a cake and eats it herself.
The novel concludes with Marian returning to her narrative perspective. Duncan visits her apartment, and she offers him the leftover cake, which he enjoys. He says,
"Thank you, it was delicious."
Critical Analysis of The Edible Woman
The Edible Woman, Margaret Atwood's debut novel, is a pioneering work in feminist literature, addressing themes of self-identity and the quest for meaning in a woman's life. The novel is structured in three distinct parts, each employing a different narrative perspective to reflect Marian's evolving self-awareness:
- Section 1: Marian narrates in the first person, though with some unreliability.
- Section 2: The narration shifts to third person, symbolizing Marian's detachment from her identity.
- Section 3: Returns to first-person narration, marking Marian's reclaiming of her sense of self.
Upon its release, the novel presented a fresh and surreal take on feminist themes through dark humor.
Set during the liberating 1960s, when women were beginning to explore their individuality, Marian MacAlpin feels constrained by the values of the previous generation. She adopts the belief that a woman, even an educated one, must be defined by her association with a successful man. Marian's engagement to Peter, a man with traditional expectations, reflects this belief, and she finds herself conforming to his expectations of behavior.
Marian's transformation begins at a dinner party where, after drinking too much, she starts to feel her individuality slipping away. She first hides under a bed, then physically runs away when discovered. Peter's reaction is to propose marriage, a moment symbolized by a dramatic lightning flash that etches her image in his eyes.
The novel is rich with symbols of fertility and domesticity, as almost every female character is either a mother or pregnant. Marian's initial self-description as a "rabbit" reflects her vulnerability rather than a desire for fertility. As she feels increasingly trapped, she begins to see Peter as a predatory figure. Her psychological distress manifests as an aversion to certain foods, symbolizing her growing resistance to being consumed by societal expectations. This aversion escalates to a complete refusal to eat, reflecting her fear of losing her identity.
Marian's realization that she is being consumed by external demands leads her to bake a sponge cake shaped like a woman, offering it to Peter as a surrogate for herself. When Peter rejects the cake, Marian understands that she is free from victimization. With Duncan's help, she eats the cake, symbolizing her return to self-acceptance. Although the ending is somewhat optimistic, Marian's journey ends with her back where she started, reflecting a cyclical struggle with her existence.
Literary Style
Atwood's use of narrative perspective in The Edible Woman is a notable stylistic choice:
- First-person narration: Initially used by Marian, reflecting her personal control and identity.
- Third-person narration: Employed in the second part, emphasizing Marian's emotional detachment.
- Return to first-person: In the final chapters, signifies Marian's reestablished sense of self.
According to Darlene Kelly, this shift highlights Marian's disconnection from reality, aligning with her estrangement from herself.
Cultural Attitude
The novel reflects the cultural attitudes of the early 1960s towards women and marriage:
- Women were expected to marry and then focus on domestic roles.
- Patricia Goldblatt notes that Atwood's female characters navigate romantic stereotypes and societal expectations differently.
Figurative Language
Food and eating serve as key metaphors in the novel:
- Food imagery is used to describe characters and situations.
- Emma Parker suggests that food represents power dynamics, with those who eat being powerful and those who don't being powerless.
- Marian's refusal to eat reflects her feeling of being consumed by others, and her act of eating the cake symbolizes her reclaiming of power.
Literary Techniques
Atwood's innovative use of narrative voice and symbolism enhances the novel:
- First-person narration: Emphasizes Marian's personal control in Parts I and III.
- Third-person narration: In Part II, supports Marian's feeling of objectification.
- Realistic and surreal elements: Blends social observations with abstract symbols, reflecting Marian's psychological journey.
The novel juxtaposes different communities and societal expectations, presenting Marian's struggles as both personal and societal critiques.
Characters in The Edible Woman
- Marian MacAlpin - The protagonist and the first-person narrator during Parts One and Three of the novel.
- Ainsley Tewce - Marian's roommate who works in an electric toothbrush repair shop.
- Peter Wollander - A lawyer and Marian's boyfriend, who later becomes her fiancé.
- Len Slank - A bachelor friend of Marian from college who works in television.
- Clara Bates - Another friend from college who left school in her second year to marry Joe and now has three children.
- Duncan - A graduate student in English with whom Marian has an affair.
- The three office virgins:
- Lucy
- Emmy
- Millie
- Mrs. Bogue - The head of the research department at Marian's firm.
- Fischer Smythe and Trevor - Duncan's roommates, also graduate students in English.
- The Lady Down Below - Marian and Ainsley's landlady, symbolically representing traditional female ideals.
Themes in the Edible Woman
Loss of Identity
Marian's refusal to eat symbolizes her resistance to being molded into a traditional feminine role. She perceives the "clutter of raw materials" in Peter's apartment as a metaphor for how consumption (both literal and societal) shapes individuals. The act of eating and assimilation is seen as analogous to societal pressure to conform to feminine roles. By refusing food, Marian rejects the societal construction that seeks to define her identity through domesticity. This conflict is highlighted by a comparison to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, where both the character Alice and Marian face challenges in accepting prescribed sexual roles. Marian's fear of losing her identity to Peter's dominant personality reflects her broader struggle against becoming a mere object within a constrictive gender role. The shift to a third-person narrative post-engagement signifies Marian's loss of control over her own story, which only returns to first-person once she regains her sense of self.
Alienation
Marian's growing alienation from her own body is underscored through the transitions between first-person and third-person narration. At a company Christmas party, Marian reflects on the societal expectations of female maturation and expresses disdain for the idea of becoming a 'mature woman' constrained by sexist norms. Her refusal to conform to these expectations further alienates her from both nature and the process of personal growth.
Background
Margaret Atwood worked at Canadian Facts, a Toronto-based survey research firm, from 1963 to 1964, which parallels the fictional Seymour Surveys in the novel. Nathalie Cooke, in Margaret Atwood: A Critical Companion, suggests that characters like Peter, Lucy, and Mrs. Sims are based on people from Atwood's life. Peter resembles Atwood's former boyfriend, who was also an amateur photographer, while Ainsley's name may be inspired by Annesley Hall at Victoria University, which was the first university residence building for women in Canada.
Publication Details
- 1969, Canada, McClelland & Stewart, hardcover
- 1969, UK, Andre Deutsch, hardcover
- 1970, US, Atlantic Little-Brown, hardcover
- 1973, Canada, McClelland & Stewart (New Canadian Library), paperback