The Edible Woman (Masterplots II: British and Commonwealth Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Margaret Atwood
- First Published: 1969
- Type of Work: Social realism
- Time of Work: The late 1960’s
- Principal Characters: Marian MacAlpin, Ainsley Tewce, Peter, Joe, Clara, Duncan, Lucy, Emmy, Millie, Leonard (Len) Slank
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Social realism, Satire
- Subjects: Values, 1960’s, Self-discovery, Gender roles, Literature, Marriage, Friendship, Pregnancy, Feminism, Women’s issues, Lawyers, Canada or Canadians, Food, Human behavior, Lifestyles, Conformity, Bohemianism, Women’s movement, Parties, Office employees, Eating disorders, Fertility
- Locales: Toronto, Canada
The Novel
Marian MacAlpin, the first-person narrator of the first and third sections of The Edible Woman and the central character in the second section, is an apparently normal, average young woman who develops an aversion to food soon after she becomes engaged to Peter. At first, she finds only that she cannot eat red meat, but her phobia extends to other kinds of food as her wedding day approaches. Her behavior becomes erratic in other ways as well. On one occasion, she runs through the streets at night, fleeing from Peter and Leonard Slank, a friend, although she knows that...
[The entire page is 2140 words long]
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