Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Edible Woman, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Gendered Expectations vs. Personal Identity
Consumerism and Consumption
Bodies, Pregnancy, and Food
Language, Meaning, and Alienation
Routine, Repetition, and Resistance
Summary
Analysis
When Marian gets home, Ainsley is huffy; she thought Marian was going to be with Peter tonight, so she has planned for Len to come over. Though Marian has tried to avoid finding out too much about the whole situation, it is clear that things have gone awry. Ironically, Ainsley has made herself seem so young and so vulnerable that Len refuses to make real advances—and Ainsley cannot overtly flirt at all, as that would ruin the illusion of innocence she is trying for.
Initially, Ainsley felt that she could bend Len’s Madonna-Whore complex to her own advantage. But now, the depth and logical fallacy of Len’s misogyny makes Ainsley’s own calculating approach to sex nearly impossible—a testimony to the strength and pervasiveness of patriarchal power.
Themes
Ainsley presses Marian to go out of the house for the night. Marian can’t go to Peter’s, as Peter might accuse her of being possessive or jealous; she also can’t go to Clara’s, as Clara just had the baby. So Marian decides she will go to a movie. Elated, Ainsley informs Marian that she plans to use Marian’s room to seduce Len—if Marian sees a tie on her door, that means not to enter. Marian says nothing, just stares at the sink, with all its dirty dishes. Marian does not feel like cleaning the dishes right now.
It is important to note how much Marian’s loss of control over herself is also a loss of control over her home. Ainsley seems to be colonizing Marian’s bedroom for her own sexual exploits (a violation that Marian does not even allow herself to process), while the dishes—once a point of pride for Marian to clean—now gather germs in the sink.
Themes
Marian heats up a frozen dinner, waiting for the late movie showing to start. Again, Marian wonders if she should warn Len—but would Len even believe her, given how convincing Ainsley’s performance has been? Marian is also worried about the lady down below: what will she think if a man spends the night? With a sigh, Marian resigns herself to having to find a new apartment, and she heads to the movie theater.
Again, Marian feels so exhausted from the energy she has to devote to logistics (where she will live, whether her friends will be annoyed with her) that she does not have time to pay attention to her own emotional state.
Themes
Marian chooses a Western movie and arrives to her seat after the film has already started. She watches the movie hazily, not even trying to follow the plot, which involves lots of good guys killing bad guys. Marian hears a cracking sound over her shoulder. When she turns to look, she is surprised to see Duncan, the man from the laundromat. He is eating something with shells, too small to be peanuts.
If Peter appears at picturesque social gatherings (like rooftop bars and garden parties), it is notable that Duncan does the opposite, showing himself in movie theaters and laundromats, less idyllic settings that nevertheless speak more directly to the carnal pleasures and challenges of life.
Themes
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Though Marian does not acknowledge Duncan, she feels irrationally happy that he is beside her. Marian feels an instinctive urge to touch Duncan’s shoulder, but she holds herself back from doing so. A few minutes later, Marian hears a whisper in her ear—“pumpkin seeds.” But when she turns around to look at Duncan, he is already gone, having left only the “visible trail” of the shells.
Unlike Marian, who eats at allotted meal-times even when she can barely muster an appetite, Duncan’s constant snacking suggests that he is more in tune with his bodily instincts (no matter how odd his pumpkin seed cravings might be). And tellingly, rather than regretting her kiss with Duncan, Marian seems only to want more intimacy with him.
Themes
Marian goes home, eager to fall into sleep. But when she arrives, the lady down below is waiting for her, ready to inform Marian that Ainsley has brought a man back with her and he has not yet left. Marian assures the lady down below that no such thing is possible. Back in her flat, Marian sees Len’s tie on her door.
The different models of femininity in Marian’s life—the conservatism of her landlady, the pregnancy-driven machinations of Ainsley—are now literally crowding Marian out of her space and her sleep, the symbolic pressures of womanhood made literal.
Themes
