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 down below prides herself on traditional values. In addition to raising her teenage daughter, mourning her dead husband, and chairing a number of social committees, the lady down below spends much of her time nosing around Marian and Ainsley’s apartment. Though the lady down below approves of Marian’s quiet lifestyle, she is highly judgmental of Ainsley, who brings alcohol into the house and has male visitors like Leonard Slank. Eventually, after Ainsley has a public fight with Len, the lady down below vows to evict her. Throughout the narrative, the lady down below represents the conservative gender roles that Marian simultaneously aims to challenge and perpetuate.
Get the entire The Edible Woman LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Lady Down Below Character Timeline in The Edible Woman
The timeline below shows where the character The Lady Down Below appears in The Edible Woman. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...top floor of an old house in a nice neighborhood. Their landlady, whom Marian calls the lady down below , lives on the first floor with her daughter. The lady down below is frustratingly...
(full context)
...has no patience for snooping, and she cannot stand the constant questions and insinuations from the lady down below . Marian is more sympathetic, especially since the two apartments share one entrance and one...
(full context)
Chapter 5
...Ainsley gets pregnant (and bring all of her heavy furniture with her)? And what would the lady down below do if she found out Ainsley was going to have a baby out of wedlock?...
(full context)
Chapter 7
...seeing Peter and Len. Almost as soon as Marian gets in the tub, she hears the lady down below at the door, signaling that her bath time must come to an end. On her...
(full context)
Chapter 10
...to seduce Len in their apartment, though the idea of this congress happening just above the lady down below upsets Marian greatly.
(full context)
Chapter 11
...some lingerie Ainsley wants her to wash) into her laundry bag, and heads out, ignoring the lady down below ’s cold stare.
(full context)
Chapter 14
...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...
(full context)
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...
(full context)
Chapter 16
...even apologizing to her for what he saw as his own trickery. When Marian mentioned the lady down below , Ainsley said she had gone out this morning, “a stroke of luck” that Marian...
(full context)
Chapter 24
...to agree to act as the baby’s father. Marian tries to shush them, fearful of the lady down below . When Len, furious, cries out “SCREW the lady down below,” the idea is so...
(full context)
...Len runs down the stairs, with Ainsley (and then Marian) close behind. Hearing the commotion, the lady down below comes out of her house, with her daughter and several friends at her side. Sensing...
(full context)
Chapter 25
...duplicates and stretches her face. Then, Marian hears footsteps outside the bathroom door, which means the lady down below is asking to be let in. In a panic, Marian gets out of the tub,...
(full context)
Just then, the lady down below appears in the doorway, shocked at Marian’s scandalous dress and at Ainsley’s half-finished hairdo. In...
(full context)
The lady down below leaves, horrified at the image of Ainsley as a mother. Moments later, Marian hears the...
(full context)
