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Chapter 28: Saints
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Lessons in Chemistry, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Gender Inequality
Science vs. Religion
Overcoming Tragedy and Trauma
Family
Summary
Analysis
During an episode of her show, Elizabeth teaches about various chemical bonds while making a chicken pot pie. Walter is concerned while watching her performance because Lebensmal, having renewed Elizabeth's contract for another six months, insists on reducing the science content and adding more sex appeal. Walter tries to get Elizabeth to meet him halfway, but Elizabeth ignores his suggestions and continues with her scientific approach, which the female viewers appreciate for making them feel capable.
Elizabeth’s cooking show has become a platform not only for culinary arts but also for the empowerment and education of her audience. Her refusal to diminish the educational aspect of her show, despite pressure from Lebensmal, demonstrates her dedication to empowering her female viewers, who value the show’s informative approach and who would not benefit from increasing the sex appeal of the show.
Themes
Near the end of the episode, with some time to spare, Elizabeth takes a question from the audience. A woman asks her a complex question about leg edema, applying concepts Elizabeth had covered in previous episodes. It turns out the woman, a housewife whose husband routinely insults her intelligence, enjoys reading medical journals and once aspired to be an open-heart surgeon. This revelation earns applause from the audience. Elizabeth encourages the woman to chase her dream, emphasizing that it’s never too late. As a gesture of support for the woman's bold future, Elizabeth gifts her the chicken pot pie she just made on the show.
The interaction with the woman from the audience highlights the unexpected capabilities of Elizabeth’s female viewers. The gift of the chicken pot pie to the woman serves as a symbolic gesture of support for her aspirations, linking the act of cooking to the nurturing of one's goals and dreams. More specifically, it reinforces the importance of women helping to support and encourage other women. The implication in this scene is that there are many women in Elizabeth’s audience who feel the same way—it is a large part of the reason they are drawn to the show in the first place.
Themes
