ANALYSIS THE EDIBLE WOMAN

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Nome: Cíntia Santos – Mat.: 2018.0421037-4
ANALYSIS OF THE NOVEL “THE EDIBLE WOMAN” BY MARGARET ATWOOD
· Introduction:
The Edible Woman, the premier work of fiction by noted Canadian poet Margaret Atwood, is a forerunner of much of the feminist literature that would follow the theme of woman in search of individual identity and worthwhile meaning in her life. The work is divided into three distinct sections, separated by the literary device of alternating narrative point of view. Although the narrator does not change, the voice changes as her perspective of herself alters. Section 1 employs first-person, though unreliable, narration, in section 2 the narrator refers to herself in third person as she essentially loses touch with who she is, and the third section returns to first person as the narrator reclaims her identity. At the time of its release, the novel was a fresh approach to the presentation of women characters in fiction, an almost surreal type of feminist black humor.
 Although the story is set within the time frame of the free-love 1960’s, when women were beginning to discover themselves as individuals, the protagonist, Marian MacAlpin, seems wedged in by the values and myths of the generation that preceded her. Consequently, it is her adopted belief that in order for a woman, even an educated woman, to attain full identity, she must be defined by association with a successful man. In acquiescence to this code, Marian becomes involved with and subsequently engaged to Peter, an attractive young up-and-comer who expects her to act and react only in prescribed, predictable, and, above all, sensible ways.
· Sinopse: 
 The book opens with a typical day in the life of Marian McAlpin. She is a college graduate in her mid-20s who works writing questionnaires for a survey company. She types up the questionnaires on the products that the company is testing and goes door-to-door asking questions of consumers. She lives with her roommate Ainsley in a small apartment, that is a converted servant’s quarters and part of a larger home. The woman who owns the home lives downstairs with her teenage daughter and is very strict about what her tenants do so that it will not corrupt “the child.” Marian and Ainsley have only known each other for a few months but have an amiable roommate agreement where each cleans and is busy with her own job and life.
 Marian has been dating Peter for several months and only sees him on weekends. He is a handsome young lawyer who lives in a nice apartment and Marian believes that their relationship is exclusive, but casual. When Peter’s last college friend gets married, he is deeply troubled. When Marian sees him a few days later, however, his mood seems to have changed. Peter asks her why the two of them “shouldn’t get married” and Marian is surprised at the proposal, but accepts. She tells Ainsley who thinks it is a bad idea and decides not to tell anyone at work for fear of losing her job. Ainsley also confides in Marian that she has decided to have a baby, but not bother with getting married. Marian disapproves but can see that Ainsley is determined.
 One of Marian’s old college pals arrives in town and Ainsley shows up at a dinner date with Marian and Peter, dressed much younger than her age. She plans to seduce Len and make him the father of her baby and Marian is torn as to whether to warn her friend or let the cards fall where they may. Marian becomes overwhelmed when she feels like an accessory to Peter at the dinner and she runs away from the group. Len chases her and Peter and Ainsley try to head her off with the car. She cannot explain her erratic behavior and the group writes it off as her simply being drunk.
 Two months later, Ainsley successfully seduces Len and discovers that she is pregnant. Len is furious but Ainsley maintains that she does not need him to be involved. After hearing a lecture at the Prenatal Clinic about the importance of a “father figure,” Ainsley changes her mind and tries to get Len to marry her. He refuses and she ends up marrying a willing man on the night that they meet.
 As Peter begins treating Marian more like his wife and less like an individual, she develops an aversion to certain foods. It begins with a piece of steak, and then it extends to eggs, rice pudding and some vegetables. As she begins to wonder if she has a mental problem, Marian starts secretly seeing an English graduate student named Duncan. He is the extreme opposite of Peter but Marian finds that she is drawn to his neurotic ironing and co-dependence.
 Despite the fact that Marian is getting married, Duncan suggests that the two sleep together. Marian becomes overwhelmed playing “wife” at a party at Peter’s apartment and agrees to Duncan’s proposition. The two spend the night in a seedy hotel and the next day, Marian goes to the grocery store and gets all of the ingredients needed to make and decorate a sponge cake. She shapes it to look like a woman and when an angry Peter arrives, she places it in front of him, accusing him of trying to destroy her. She insists that he devour the cake instead and their engagement is effectively ended. With Peter gone, Marian sits down and begins to ravenously eat the cake. Ainsley arrives to announce that she has gotten married and is leaving. Marian cleans the apartment for two days and eats a steak. Her relationship with food is back to normal. When Duncan arrives, looking for attention, she gives him the rest of the cake to eat.
· Context:
 Although The Edible Woman was poorly received in initial reviews, it has come to be considered one of the first heraldings of women’s right to independence. The book was not released until 1969, after a delay of five years, and despite the fact that the women’s movement had made significant strides during the 1960’s, an independent woman was not yet a totally acceptable ideal at that time. Additionally, and regardless of the fact that ritualistic cannibalism has been a theme in the world’s literary canon since its conception, some critics were offended by the approach in Atwood’s work, chiding her for moral irresponsibility when discussing birth and emotions in such tones.
 Near the end of the work, Duncan, as alter ego to the protagonist, points out, as they sit on the edge of an empty pit, that Marian’s life is her “own personal cul-de-sac,” that she invented it and she would have to find her own way out. Though Marian MacAlpin has been little changed by the unfolding events in her life, she nevertheless becomes more human as she retreats slightly from her dead-end destination and becomes a hero of sorts in accepting her own complicity in her victimization, thus serving as a positive role model for future authors and readers alike. One reviewer missed this point, however, and complained that the novel was wasted paper, peopled with insignificant characters. Although the work is open-ended, one is left with the faint hope that Marian will escape her “abnormal normality” and become a beacon of hope for others trapped in their own constrictive relationships.
· Historical and Cultural Context:
 Margaret Atwood weaves stories from her own life in the bush and cities of Canada. Intensely conscious of her political and social context, Atwood dispels the notion that caribou-clad Canadians remain perpetually locked in blizzards while simultaneously seeming to be a polite mass of gray faces, often indistinguishable from their American neighbors. Atwood has continually pondered the lack of an identifiable Canadian culture... In an attempt to focus on Canadian experiences, Atwood has populated her stories with Canadian cities, conflicts, and contemporary people.
 Atwood and a handful of other women writers in Canada are considered to have marked a turning point in Canadian literature. Her first novel, The Edible Woman, was written before the resurgence of the women's movement, but the ideas in her novel helped to spark the need for change. Atwood attended college during the 1960s, bothin Canada and in the United States. It was during this time that the feminist movement, also referred to as the Women's Liberation Movement, experienced a renaissance in both countries. Intrinsically involved in this rebirth were two books that Atwood has admitted reading.
· Main Characters:
Clara Bates: She is a friend of Marian McAlpin. Quite pregnant with her third child as the book begins, she dropped out of college for her first pregnancy. She represents traditional motherhood and sacrifices for one's children. Marian finds Clara rather boring and believes she needs rescuing.
Joe Bates: Clara's husband, a college instructor, who does quite a bit of the work at home. He stands for marriage as a way to protect women.
Mrs. Bogue: Marian's department head and a prototypical professional woman.
Duncan: Marian's love interest, very different than Peter, Marian's fiancé. He is not particularly attractive, not ambitious, and he pushes Marian to "be real."
Marian McAlpin: The protagonist, learning to cope with life and people.
Millie, Lucy, and Emmy, the Office Virgins: they symbolize what is artificial in women's stereotypical roles of the 1960s
Len (Leonard) Shank: A friend of Marian and Clara, a "lecherous skirt-chaser" according to Marian. Ainsley is trying to trick him into fathering her child, but he is the opposite of the married father, Joe Bates.
Fish (Fischer) Smythe: Duncan's roommate, who plays a special role near the end in Ainsley's life.
Ainsley Tewce: Marian's roommate, the ultra-progressive, aggressive opposite of Clara and, perhaps, also Marian's opposite. She is anti-marriage at first, then switches two different kinds of moral earnestness.
Trevor: Duncan's roommate.
Trigger: A late-marrying friend of Peter's.
Peter Wollander: Marian's fiancé, a "good catch" who proposes to Marian because it is a sensible thing to do. He wants to mold Marian into his idea of the perfect woman.
Woman Down Below: The landlady (and her child) who represents a kind of strict moral code.
· Analyzing more details about the story:
 Through Marian MacAlpin’s rather pathetic attempt at becoming an independent woman, the author illustrates the prevalent feminist view of a male-dominated world in which woman is relegated to the role of victim. Although Marian is certainly no archetypal hero in the strictest sense of the term, she nevertheless manages to break away from the constraints of her prudish background and attains an element of optimistic freedom. To convey her message, Margaret Atwood employs various literary devices of alternating narration, literary allusion, and extended metaphor.
 By dividing the book into three sections and switching narrative perspective, Atwood demonstrates her narrator’s loss of control. The novel begins and ends in first person; however, the crucial middle section of the work features third-person narration. It does not use an objective third-person narrator; instead it depicts the protagonist referring to herself as “Marian” instead of “I.” This approach to narration is more disconcerting than merely switching from one narrator to another because the reader sees the narrator lose touch with herself and fade into the story. On the other hand, this switch allows the narrator more objectivity, as she is now permitted microscopic observance of her own behavior while staying removed from it. From a feminist perspective, this narrative style allows the reader to view the protagonist as both subject and object, and it is the creation of the cake icon that unites the two. As soon as Marian severs the cake’s head from the body, the work returns to first-person narration.