The Edible Woman Character Analysis

Marian McAlpin

Marian McAlpin is a recent college graduate and the narrator of The Edible Woman. When the novel begins, Marian is content with her conventional life: she cleans the house with her roommate Ainsley… read analysis of Marian McAlpin

Duncan/The Pale Man

Duncan (whom Marian initially only identifies as a strange, pale man) is an English PhD student. He is also Trevor and Fish’s third roommate and Marian’s eventual lover. Duncan is the antithesis of the… read analysis of Duncan/The Pale Man

Peter Wollander

Peter Wollander is Marian’s boyfriend and eventual fiancé. Peter is a lawyer, and he is widely respected for his conventional good looks and responsible lifestyle. Ainsley often lightly mocks Peter for surrounding himself with “soap… read analysis of Peter Wollander

Ainsley Tewce

Ainsley Tewce (condescendingly called “Miss Tewce” by the lady down below) is Marian’s roommate and friend. Unlike Marian, Ainsley is chaotic, constantly staying out late, leaving her room messy, and telling outrageous stories… read analysis of Ainsley Tewce

Leonard Slank

Leonard Slank is one of Clara and Marian’s best friends from college. When the novel begins, Len has recently returned to Toronto from London, where he was working in television production. Len is known… read analysis of Leonard Slank

Clara Bates

Clara Bates is Joe Bates’s wife and Marian’s best friend from high school and college. In high school, thin, blonde Clara was admired for her idyllic, “perfume-advertisement femininity.” In college, Clara excelled academically… read analysis of Clara Bates

Joe Bates

Joe Bates is Clara’s husband and the father of her children. Joe and Clara met when he was a graduate student and she was an undergrad. Joe’s tender “worship” of Clara impressed Marian… read analysis of Joe Bates

Fischer Smythe (Fish)

Fischer Smythe (known only as “Fish” for most of the novel) is one of Duncan’s roommates and a PhD student in the English department where Duncan studies. Fish is portrayed as rather clueless and… read analysis of Fischer Smythe (Fish)

The Lady Down Below

The lady down below is what Marian and Ainsley call their landlady; her real name is never revealed. Unlike Marian and Ainsley, who are college graduates interested in more modern models of womanhood, the lady… read analysis of The Lady Down Below

Trevor

Trevor is one of Duncan’s roommates and a fellow English PhD student at Duncan’s university. Trevor comes from a wealthy family known for manufacturing coconut cookies, though he does not like advertising this ritzy… read analysis of Trevor

Lucy

Lucy, one of the so-called “office virgins” at Seymour Surveys, has a glamorous public relations job. Unlike her friends Millie and Emmy, Lucy is “platinum and elegantly coiffured.” Though she, too, is single, Lucy… read analysis of Lucy

Millie

Millie is Mrs. Bogue’s assistant and one of the “office virgins” at Marian’s work. Millie is athletic and Australian, and she seems less nervous than her friends Lucy and Emmy. However, like the… read analysis of Millie

Emmy

Emmy is the typist for Seymour Surveys and one of the “office virgins” (as Ainsley calls them) whom Marian works with. Emmy is depicted as being sickly; her skin is always flaking off, she is… read analysis of Emmy

Mrs. Bogue

Mrs. Bogue is Marian’s boss at Seymour Surveys and the head of the questionnaire department. Mrs. Bogue is always cheerful, though Marian senses some artificiality in Mrs. Bogue’s demeanor, especially because Mrs. Bogue seems… read analysis of Mrs. Bogue

The Underwear Man

The so-called “Underwear Man” is a prank caller who asks housewives inappropriate questions about their lingerie, using the Seymour Surveys company name to gain access to them. The Underwear Man is known to be polite… read analysis of The Underwear Man

Trigger

Trigger is Peter’s best friend from college, and the last of Peter’s old friends to get married. When Trigger does get married, Peter struggles with the idea that his bachelor days are over. Marian… read analysis of Trigger

Minor Characters

Mrs. Grot

Mrs. Grot is the head of accounting at Seymour Surveys. Mrs. Grot pressures Marian to pay money to the company’s pension plan, though Marian chafes against this expectation. Privately, Marian thinks that Mrs. Grot takes pleasure in deducting various fees from her colleagues’ paychecks.

Mrs. Withers

Mrs. Withers is the in-house dietician at Seymour Surveys. She often calls on Marian and some of the other female employees to taste-test their clients’ products, like an unappetizing selection of canned rice puddings.

The Edible Woman

Margaret Atwood

The Edible Woman Characters