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
Peter and Marian eat their frozen dinner, though Peter complains that he wishes Marian cooked more. Then, Peter and Marian go to meet Len. Peter is in some kind of inscrutable mood. Peter hints that he is jealous of Len, so Marian reassures Peter that Len is just an old college friend. On the way into the bar, Peter holds the door open for Marian, just as he always does.
In this series of events, the narrative directly links masculine gender norms—chivalry, possessiveness—to the complementary gendered expectations that so often trap women (as when Peter complains that Marian should cook more).
Themes
Len is already at the bar, and he greets Marian and Peter warmly. When Marian asks about Len’s time in England, he immediately complains that all the women there were trying to marry him. Peter lights up at this, and the two men quickly bond. Just as Marian begins to relax, however, a young girl taps her on the shoulder. With horror, Marian realizes the girl is Ainsley, dressed to make herself look like a teenager.
On the one hand, Len and Peter perpetuate a toxically masculine culture, one in which women are seen as deceitful, calculating nags. On the other hand, rather than challenging this system of beliefs, Ainsley plays directly into it, making herself look younger in a bid to fulfill Len’s sexist wishes.
Themes
Marian is furious, but the trick works, and Len is immediately infatuated with Ainsley (“I knew you had a roommate,” he gushes, “but you didn’t tell me she was so young!”). Marian feels trapped in the middle, so she decides to get some air, choosing not to reveal Ainsley’s secrets but still fuming. When Marian returns, Len is talking to Ainsley, who looks like a doll. The waiter has brought everyone new drinks.
It is important to note the role alcohol plays in Marian’s life. As she drinks, she feels both more panicked and less clear—but paradoxically, as the people around Marian drink, they behave like caricatures of themselves, allowing her to see them with more clarity. Alcohol therefore confuses and illuminates at the same time, a terrifying effect for Marian that builds throughout the story.
Themes
Now, Peter is telling a hunting story. Marian feels a strange panic, fearing that Peter is speaking too loud and too fast and baring his teeth. Marian pictures the forest he describes and imagines the dead rabbit in his story, blood everywhere. Marian notices a wet droplet fall by her hand, and she wonders what it is. She realizes it is one of her tears—“I must be crying, then,” she thinks. Worried that the alcohol has distorted her perceptions, Marian slips away to the bathroom.
In daily life, Peter does everything he can to appear proper and well-kept. But as Marian pictures him hunting, she sees a carnal, violent side to Peter that frightens and profoundly upsets her, as it confirms all her worst suspicions about him. Crucially, Marian’s realization that she is crying is dissociative, as if she is no longer in her own body. This dissociation foreshadows the novel’s central structural shift, as Marian’s first-person storytelling will eventually give way to disembodied third-person narration.
Themes
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Ainsley sees Marian is crying, so she follows her to the bathroom. But Marian is still angry with Ainsley, so she refuses to confide anything in her. When the two women return to the table, the conversation has shifted to photography. Suddenly, Marian realizes that Peter is treating her as a prop to impress Len with, smiling at her in a way that makes Marian feel as if their relationship is more serious than she realized. As they leave the bar, Marian hears Len invite Peter over to look at his camera equipment. As soon as they are outside, Marian runs away.
Poignantly, Ainsley’s focus on the male gaze gets in the way of any potential solidarity or companionship she and Marian might be able to find here. As cameras have already been associated with hunting—and as Marian now feels like a “prop,” a hunter’s stuffed trophy—it is no wonder that Marian feels real, imminent danger in this discussion of photography equipment.
Themes
