45 pages • 1 hour read
The Edible Woman
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Character Analysis
Marian McAlpin
As the novel’s protagonist, Marian McAlpin is a recent university graduate currently working at Seymour Surveys. Her administrative position requires her to “translate” the survey questions written by male psychologists to more colloquial language that can be used by the female interviewers and interviewees, most of whom are housewives. At the beginning of the novel, Marian has a casual relationship with Peter Wollander. She enjoys going to parties and out for drinks in the evening; she has no interest in getting married, becoming a mother, or having to fulfill a traditional feminine role for a man. When riding public transport, Marian often reads the advertisements to discern which specific group of people are being marketed to.
Marian’s character is based upon her dislike for locked roles, stasis, or the inability to change. She fears being captured in a particular pose or role. Her relationships with the other characters display her ability to interpret their emotional states and modulate her own behavior to best suit them. When Peter unexpectedly proposes to her, Marian experiences identity dissociation from a lack of personal autonomy. This is reflected in the narrative by the switch from first person to third person point of view between Parts 1 and 2 as well as her body’s distaste for most foods. As their wedding date approaches, Marian begins an emotional affair with Duncan to escape her role as Peter’s fiancée. When Marian’s identity dissociation escalates to the point where she can eat only a select group of foods, cannot bear to be photographed, and avoids mirrors, she agrees to have sex with Duncan. They are both disappointed in the affair; Marian did not realign with her sense of autonomy as she expected she would. To break herself free both from her eating restrictions and her engagement to Peter, Marian bakes a cake in the shape of a woman and begins eating it after he rejects it. This consumption of her embodied femininity instigates her break with Peter, after which she is able to return to her normal eating habits.
Ainsley Tewce
Ainsley Tewce is Marian’s roommate and a recent university graduate with a degree in psychology. She is described as beautiful with long auburn hair and big eyes that “she can make as round as Ping-Pong balls” (7) when attempting to seduce or persuade someone. She works at an electric toothbrush company. Based on her studies in psychology, Ainsley believes that femininity is best achieved through having children and seeks to raise one on her own. Her role in the novel is as foil to Marian, as Ainsley’s femininity derives from institutionalized, traditional ideals of femininity learned in university while Marian attempts to discover a femininity that best aligns with her life and values. Ainsley succeeds in seducing Marian’s friend Leonard Slank and becomes pregnant, but when a psychologist advises her the child will need a father figure, she becomes involved with Duncan’s roommate Fish when Len refuses to marry her and raise the baby together. Ainsley’s character and the changes she undergoes from single woman to mother depend upon academic institutions; therefore, she represents the way in which academic and intellectual life perpetuates traditional cultural values.
Peter Wollander and Duncan
Peter Wollander is a young lawyer and Marian’s casual boyfriend at the beginning of the novel. Marian describes him as “ordinariness raised to perfection” (61). He is attractive, clean, and decorates his apartment in a sparse yet functional style. Though Peter is initially against marriage, once all of his single male friends become married, he proposes to Marian. Peter values tradition and conforming to his expected role in society. Given Marian’s fear of societal roles, Peter serves as an antagonist to Marian that causes her to repress her desires and emotions. After Peter makes the switch from disagreeing with marriage to wanting it, he becomes a static character who does not change further.
As Peter’s foil, Duncan is an English graduate student who is primarily characterized by his extreme self-obsession. He is extremely thin, actively trying to quit smoking cigarettes, and often does laundry or ironing to soothe himself from the anxieties attached to academic life. Marian finds Duncan’s personality reassuring, as he is so distracted by his own thoughts that he does not pay attention to whether Marian is behaving properly as a woman. Duncan remains static throughout the novel despite Marian’s efforts to make him change and appreciate her more.
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