The Edible Woman

by

Margaret Atwood

Lucy Character Analysis

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 shows more skill in how she tries to flirt with and entice men. Marian is often frustrated with Lucy, whom she sees as calculating and opportunistic. At Marian and Peter’s engagement party, Lucy tries to flirt first with Leonard Slank and then even with Peter himself, much to Marian’s shock and amusement.
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Lucy Character Timeline in The Edible Woman

The timeline below shows where the character Lucy appears in The Edible Woman. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
Gendered Expectations vs. Personal Identity Theme Icon
...10:30, Marian usually goes for coffee with the three other young women in her office—elegant Lucy, athletic Millie, and sickly Emmy. Sometimes Ainsley joins them, though she looks down on the... (full context)
Gendered Expectations vs. Personal Identity Theme Icon
Routine, Repetition, and Resistance Theme Icon
...is lying, but Ainsley’s blue eyes look so round that the “office virgins” believe her. Lucy complains about the waitress (who is “blatantly not an office virgin”), and Millie assures Marian... (full context)
Chapter 3
Gendered Expectations vs. Personal Identity Theme Icon
Consumerism and Consumption Theme Icon
Bodies, Pregnancy, and Food Theme Icon
Lucy comes over to Marian’s desk, asking for help with a note from a customer who... (full context)
Chapter 13
Consumerism and Consumption Theme Icon
Bodies, Pregnancy, and Food Theme Icon
Routine, Repetition, and Resistance Theme Icon
Lucy wants to go to a more expensive place than usual—probably, Marian thinks, because Lucy is... (full context)
Gendered Expectations vs. Personal Identity Theme Icon
When Lucy asks about Peter, Marian decides to finally tell the “office virgins” about the engagement (though... (full context)
Chapter 19
Gendered Expectations vs. Personal Identity Theme Icon
Consumerism and Consumption Theme Icon
Bodies, Pregnancy, and Food Theme Icon
Routine, Repetition, and Resistance Theme Icon
...takes in “all that abundance, […] those coagulations of fat and sweet.” In one corner, Lucy is telling a story about a girl she knows who just stopped washing one day—she... (full context)
Chapter 27
Gendered Expectations vs. Personal Identity Theme Icon
Routine, Repetition, and Resistance Theme Icon
...new woman who walks in makes the “office virgins” even more dour, though Marian fears Lucy and Millie and Emmy will not be any happier when they see Trevor and Fish,... (full context)
Gendered Expectations vs. Personal Identity Theme Icon
Consumerism and Consumption Theme Icon
Routine, Repetition, and Resistance Theme Icon
...in the sink, partially empty beer bottles and chewed olive pits gathering. Across the room, Lucy is flirting with Peter, batting her silver-painted eyelashes while Peter excitedly shows her his camera.... (full context)
Chapter 30
Gendered Expectations vs. Personal Identity Theme Icon
Language, Meaning, and Alienation Theme Icon
...home, Peter calls her, enraged at her disappearance. After Marian left, Peter explained, he and Lucy searched everywhere for her in his car; “it’s nice to know,” Peter says, “there are... (full context)