6. The Edible Woman(1969)- for APPSC TGPSC TREIRB JL/DL

 

6. The Edible Woman(1969)

for APPSC TGPSC TREIRB JL/DL

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Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939---) 

Margaret E. Atwood, born in Ottawa, Canada, in 1939, spent her childhood and early adolescence divided between the cities of Toronto, Ottawa, and Sault Ste. Marie, as well as the remote wilderness of Northern Ontario and Quebec. She is the daughter of an entomologist and spent her childhood in forests. Her family lived in a log cabin without electricity, running water, television, or radio—an isolated setting that fostered her imagination. There, she entertained herself by reading the works of the Brothers Grimm and Edgar Allan Poe, laying the foundation for her future literary career.

Not until she was eleven, when her family moved to Toronto, did she attend school full-time. In Geraldine Bedell’s Nothing but the Truth: Writing Between the Lines, Atwood recalled that city life seemed bizarre compared to her unconventional upbringing, stating that all social groups appeared "equally bizarre, all artifacts and habits peculiar and strange." This outsider perspective, combined with her early passion for literature, steered her toward writing. By the time she graduated from high school, her yearbook declared her ambition to write "the great Canadian novel."

Atwood began writing seriously in high school, but it was during her undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto’s Victoria College that her literary interests fully crystallized. Under the mentorship of renowned critic Northrop Frye, she developed a deep fascination with Canadian literature—an interest that would shape her career and influence generations of writers. By 1961, she had earned her B.A. in Honours English and won the E.J. Pratt Medal for her self-published poetry collection, Double Persephone. That same year, her first official collection of poetry was published, marking the beginning of an extraordinary literary journey.

Few writers have matched Atwood’s success. Over the decades, she has gained international acclaim as a poet, novelist, short story writer, critic, and children’s author. Her works, translated into over 20 languages, have earned her numerous accolades, including two Governor General’s Awards—for The Circle Game (1966) and The Handmaid’s Tale (1986)—and two booker prizes for Blind Assasin (2001), and The Testaments (2019).

After completing her M.A. at Radcliffe College in 1962, Atwood pursued doctoral studies at Harvard but left in 1963 to work in Toronto for a market research company. Reflecting on this period in a 1995 speech at Hay-on-Wye, Wales, she humorously described her struggles: "After two years at the dreaded Harvard University, two broken engagements, a year of living in a tiny rooming-house room and working at a market research company... and after the massive rejection of my first novel, and of several other poetry collections... I ended up in British Columbia, teaching grammar to Engineering students at eight-thirty in the morning in a Quonset hut."

In 1961, at the age of nineteen, Margaret Atwood wrote a collection of poems that she self-published. The collection was called Double Persephone and it won her the prestigious E. J. Pratt Medal. In 1966, another Atwood poetry collection, The Circle Game, won her the Canadian Governor General's Award. This was how she launched her career as a writer. At the time of  publication of her first novel, Atwood was considered a poet.

Despite early setbacks, Atwood persisted. Her first novel, The Edible Woman (1969), was nearly lost by a publisher who later agreed to print it—without having read it—after she gained recognition for her poetry. Its release coincided with the feminist movement, propelling her into the literary spotlight. Over the next decades, she published landmark works such as Lady Oracle (1976), Cat’s Eye (1988), and The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), which was adapted into a film in 1990.

Balancing writing with academia, Atwood taught at universities across North America while producing over 30 books, including poetry, novels, and short stories. Today, she remains a towering figure in literature, residing in Toronto with her husband, novelist Graeme Gibson. Her legacy endures not only through her own works but also through her role in championing Canadian literature on the global stage.

 

Margaret (Eleanor) Atwood (1939-  )- poet critic, novelist, teacher, environmental activist, inventor of LongPen device (robotic writing technology- remote controlled pen invented by her in 2004 which allows a person to write remotely in ink anywhere in the world via tablet, PC). Atwood is a founder of the Griffin Poetry Prize and the Writers' Trust of Canada. she has published eighteen books of poetry, eighteen novels, eleven books of non-fiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight children's books, two graphic novels, and a number of small press editions of both poetry and fiction.

Novels:

1.       The Edible Women (1969)- first novel, about a women and their relationships to men, to society, and to food and eating. Anorexia is the medical term for eating disorders. Story begins with a first-person narrator in the voice of the female protagonist, Marian McAlpin. For the first several chapters Marian describes her relationships to her roommate, Ainsley; her boyfriend, Peter Wollander; and her pregnant friend, Clara Bates. Marian meets Duncan, an unconventional young man. Millie, Lucy, and Emmy are three single women who are known collectively as the Office Virgins.

2.       Surfacing 1972- second novel, unnamed protagonist returned to Canada to find her missing father

3.       Lady Oracle 1976- Parody of Gothic romances and failry Tales

4.       Life Before Man 1979- three main characters: Nate and Elizabeth are an unhappily married couple. Lesje, a paleontologist- fascinated by dinosaurs, is the lover of Nate.

5.       Bodily Harm 1981- Rennie Wilford, a travel reporter, is the protagonist. After surviving breast cancer, she travels to the fictional Caribbean island St. Antoine to carry out research for an article.

6.       The Handmaid’s Tale 1985- Dystopian feminist novel set in 2195AD at Republic of Gilead (previously USA). Won Governer General Award first Arthur C. Clarke Award. The title echoes to Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Story in first person narrative by the protoganist OffRed (pun on the word ‘offered’). "Offred" is as in "offered as a sacrifice"; or "Of Fred" her possession by the Commander named Fred; or  the red dress assigned for them. In Gilead, there are various classes: Eyes- Gilead’s secret police; Aunts- indoctrinate the Handmaids; Marthas- Houseeeping; Handmaids- reproducting women. Offred is a thirty year old, separated from husband, Luke, and daughter, became handmaid, fails to become pregnant in 3^rd attempt. If she fails again, she has to cleanup wastages, tried to escape with the help of Nick, Commander’s driver, but the reader is not sure whether she is rescued, arrested or doomed to death. Famous line: The commander said to Offred, “You can’t make omlette without breaking eggs.”

7.       Cat's Eye 1988 – about bullying among young girls, Elaine Risely, a fictional painter, recalls her childhood tormenters.

8.       The Robber Bride 1993- Set in Toronto, Ontario, the novel is about three women and their history with old friend and nemesis, Zenia (Zenia is the Robber Bride).

9.       Alias Grace 1996- historical fiction novel, based on two murders in 1843. Dr. Simon Jordan, a psychiatrist, and Dr. DuPont, "Neuro-Hypnotist" trying to find the facts of the murder from Grace Marks, a former housemaid.

10.    The Blind Assassin (2000)- winner of the 2000 Booker Prize, historical metafiction, set in the fictional Port Ticonderoga, Ontario,Toronto. Narrated from present day about the events of 1930s and 1940s. The book includes a novel within a novel, the eponymous Blind Assassin, a roman à clef attributed to Laura but published by Iris.

11.    Oryx and Crake (2003)- Speculative fiction involves supernatural elements and a scientific dystopia, A world destroyed by mad genious, surviving only one,  focuses on a character called "Snowman (original name is Jimmy)", (refers to mythical ape-like creature, Yeti, of the Himalaya.) living in a post-apocalyptic world near a small group of primitive and innocent human-like creatures whom he calls Crakers. Crake (brilliant geneticist and mad scientist) whose original name is Glenn, is Jimmy's childhood friend. They played video game called Extinctathon which is monitored by someone called MaddAddam. The game tests players’ knowledge of extinct species. Crake invented a Viagra-like super-pill called BlyssPluss, which causes sterilization to address overpopulation.  Oryx (name is from the oryx, an African antelope) is a mysterious woman, recognized by Jimmy and Crake as the waif-like girl from a child pornography site.

12.    The Penelopiad (2005)- (remembers Homer’s Odyssey). The novel recaps Penelope's life in hindsight from 21st-century Hades; she recalls her family life in Sparta, her marriage to Odysseus. first set of books in the Canongate Myth Series where contemporary authors rewrite ancient myths.

13.    The Year of the Flood 2009- focuses on God's Gardeners, a small community of survivors of the biological catastrophe depicted in Atwood's earlier novel Oryx and Crake.

Note:Maddaddan or Oryx and Crake Trilogy: Oryx and Crake(2003), The Year of Flood(2009), and Maddaddan (2013)

14.    Scribbler Moon (written in 2014 as part of the Future Library project; will remain unpublished until 2114)

15.    The Heart Goes Last (2015)- Dystopian novel set in near future- Charmaine and Stan (who are living in a car, surviving on tips) sees an advertisement for Consilience, a ‘social experiment’ offering stable jobs and a home of their own, and sign up immediately. They have to giveup their freedom every second month swapping their home for a prison cell.

16.    Hag-Seed (2016)- modern retelling of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. It follows the life of Felix, a former director at Makeshiweg Theatre, now an exiled man who speaks to his daughter's ghost. He uses his new teaching job in a prison literacy program, for taking revenge.

17.    MaddAddam (2017) – third part of dystopian trilogy. The narrative starts with Ren and Toby (protagonists in The Year of the Flood) rescuing another survivor (Amanda Payne) from two criminals, who had been previously emotionally hardened by a colosseum-style game called Painball.

18.    The Testaments (2019)- A sequel novel to The Handmaid’s Tale, joint winner of the 2019 Booker Prize)

 

Poetic collections:

1.   Double Persephone (1961),

2.   The Circle Game(1964)

3.   Expeditions (1965)

4.   Speeches for Doctor Frankenstein (1966)

5.   The Animals in That Country (1968)

6.   The Journals of Susanna Moodie (1970)

7.   Procedures for Underground (1970)

8.   Power Politics (1971)

9.   You Are Happy (1974)

10.    Selected Poems (1976)

11.    Two-Headed Poems (1978)

12.    True Stories (1981)

13.    Snake Poems (1983)

14.    Interlunar (1984)

15.    Selected Poems 1966–1984 (Canada)

16.    Selected Poems II: 1976–1986 (US)

17.    Morning in the Burned House (1995)

18.    Eating Fire: Selected Poems, 1965–1995 (UK,1998)

19.    "You Begin." (1978)

20.    The Door (2007)

21.    Dearly (2020)

22.    Paper Boat: New and Selected Poems: 1961-2023 (2024)

 

Short fiction Collections:

1.     Dancing Girls (1977)

2.     Murder in the Dark (1983)

3.     Bluebeard's Egg (1983)

4.     Wilderness Tips (1991)

5.     Good Bones (1992)

6.     Good Bones and Simple Murders (1994)

7.     The Labrador Fiasco (1996)

8.     The Tent (2006)

9.     Moral Disorder (2006)

10.  Stone Mattress (2014)

11.  Old Babes in the Wood (2023)

 

Non Fiction:

1.   Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature (1972)

2.   Strange Things: The Malevolent North in Canadian Literature(1995)- based on a lecture series given at Oxford University.

3.   Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing (2002)- six lectures she gave at University of Cambridge

4.   Writing with Intent: Essays, Reviews, Personal Prose—1983–2005 (2006)

5.   Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth(2008)- about the nature of debt

 

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The Edible Woman

Background:

Margaret Atwood's first novel, The Edible Woman, wriiten in 1965 but published in 1969, is about women and their relationships to men, to society, and to food and eating. It established her as a heavyweight writer. It is through food and eating that Atwood discusses a young woman's rebellion against a modern, male-dominated world.  It tells the story of a woman who begins to identify with food so much that she loses the ability to eat.

This novel's publication coincided with the rise of the women's movement in North America. In a foreword written in 1979 for the Virago edition of the novel, Atwood described it as a protofeminist rather than feminist work, because it was written in 1965 and thus anticipated second wave feminism. Many of the themes deal with issues of control and identity.

Also, anorexia, although known in the medical profession, was not a popular topic of conversation in the lay community. Eating disorders were diagnosed in a doctor's office but were not being widely discussed in women's magazines. Having been published in this era prior to full-blown discussions of women's rights and women's health issues, The Edible Woman received many reviews that mainly emphasized the book's literary techniques.

 

Point of view - Three part structure

Part	Number of chapters	Point of view
1st	12 chapters	First person by Marian
2nd	18 chapters	Third person
3rd	1 chapter	First person by Marian

The novel consists of 31 chapters, but without naming the chapters. The narrative point of view shifts from first to third person, accentuating Marian's slow detachment from reality. At the conclusion, first person narration returns, consistent with the character's willingness to take control of her life again.

 

Opening line:

I know I was all right on Friday when I got up. (Marian McAlpin)

 

Closing line:

“Thank you,” he said, licking his lips. “It was delicious.” (Duncan)

 

Short Summary:

Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman presents a biting social satire through the story of Marian McAlpin, a market researcher in 1960s Toronto whose seemingly stable life unravels as she confronts restrictive gender roles. The novel opens in Marian's shared apartment. The "lady down below," rented the apartment to Marian and Ainsely, but she is critical of their lifestyle—due to her fear of their "improper" behavior influencing her daughter. Her roommate Ainsley shocks her by declaring plans to become pregnant without marriage, targeting womanizing bachelor Len Shrank. This unconventional approach to motherhood contrasts sharply with Marian's own conventional engagement to Peter, a dull but reliable lawyer.

At the beginning of the novel, Marian is assigned to conduct a door-to-door survey by her boss, Mrs. Bogue, asking men about their beer consumption. Marian encounters Duncan, an eccentric English literature student whose unconventional perspectives intrigue her. This meeting becomes significant later when Marian's growing disillusionment manifests. A visit to her college friend Clara's suburban home - where Clara is perpetually pregnant with her third child, and domestically trapped - further heightens Marian's anxiety about her impending marriage. Clara’ husband, Joe works at the local university.

The crisis point comes during a disastrous dinner at a restaurant with Peter and Len. When Peter graphically describes a rabbit hunt, Marian experiences a visceral dissociation, suddenly seeing a tear drop onto the table before fleeing in distress. That same night, Peter proposes during an awkward car chase through Toronto streets, and Marian accepts despite her growing unease.

Back in their apartment, Marian's psychological rebellion takes physical form through food aversions. After Len confesses his childhood fear of eggs, Marian finds herself unable to eat them. The aversion spreads to vegetables, then meat, then nearly all food. Marian’s food aversions worsen, symbolizing her fear of being metaphorically consumed by Peter and the roles of wife and mother.  When Clara dismisses this as normal "bridal nerves," Marian's isolation deepens.

The tension culminates at the engagement party in Marian and Peter's apartment. Pressured by Peter to wear a scandalous red dress and heavy makeup, Marian feels increasingly objectified. When Duncan appears at the party, she escapes with him to a roadside motel, but their sexual encounter proves as unsatisfying as her conventional relationship with Peter.

The novel's pivotal scene returns to the apartment, where Marian bakes a woman-shaped cake - a literal embodiment of her fears of consumption. When she offers this grotesque dessert to Peter, his horrified reaction confirms her realization that their marriage would erase her identity. After Peter leaves, Marian consumes the cake herself, reclaiming her autonomy.

In the ambiguous conclusion, Duncan returns to casually finish the leftover cake the next day, while Ainsley - now pregnant - shockingly agrees to marry Fish and going to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon. Though Marian's appetite returns, signaling a tentative step toward autonomy, the ending remains deliberately open.

Chronological list of key scenes and settings:

ACT 1:

1.Marian’s Apartment

·       Introduction to Marian’s life with roommate Ainsley.

·       Ainsley declares her plan to get pregnant without marriage

·       Peter’s phone call about his friend Trigger’s engagement leads to awkward bathtub sex.

2.Market Research Office

·       Marian conducts consumer surveys for a beer campaign

·       First meeting with Duncan, whose unconventional answers for a survey of beer intrigue her

3.Clara’s Suburban Home

·       Marian visits her old college friend, now a 3^rd time pregnant housewife- Clara Bates

·       Contrast highlights Marian’s anxiety about domesticity

4.Restaurant Dinner

·       Peter recounts a graphic rabbit hunt to Len

·       Marian dissociates, cries, and flees

·       Ainsley arrives as virginal schoolgirl to seduce Len

·       Peter chases Marian in his car and proposes

ACT 2:

5.Laundromat

·       Marian runs into Duncan again; they kiss awkwardly.

6.Marian’s Apartment

·       Len confesses his fear of eggs to Marian

·       Marian’s food aversions begin

o   (eggs → vegetables → meat)

·       Clara dismisses it as "bridal nerves"

7.Department Store

·       Peter pressures Marian to buy a revealing red dress for their party

8.Engagement Party (Marian & Peter’s Apartment)

·       Marian wears the red dress and heavy makeup (applied by Ainsley)

·       Feels objectified; escapes with Duncan

9.Roadside Motel

·       Unsatisfying sexual encounter with Duncan

·       Marian still cannot eat breakfast the next morning

ACT 3:

10. Marian’s Apartment (Cake Rebellion)

·       Bakes a woman-shaped cake and offers it to Peter

·       Peter is horrified and leaves

·       Marian eats the cake herself, reclaiming autonomy

11. Final Apartment Scene

·       Duncan returns, eats the leftover cake indifferently

·       Ainsley announces she’ll marry Fish.

·       Marian’s appetite returns, but her future remains open

 

Chapter wise- Summary

Part One (1-12 chapters)

The Edible Woman begins with a first-person narrator in the voice of the female protagonist, Marian McAlpin, works for Seymour Surveys. For the first several chapters Marian describes her relationships to her roommate, Ainsley; her boyfriend, Peter; and her pregnant friend, Clara. Marian also describes her job, which requires her to take the technical language of survey questions and translate it into a language that the layperson will understand. When asked to substitute for one of the company's surveyors, Marian reluctantly goes from house to house asking people their opinions about a Moose beer ad that will soon be broadcast on the radio. It is during this survey that Marian meets Duncan, an aimless graduate student of English Literature (Ph.D) who throws Marian off guard with his lies and almost immediate admittance of his dishonesty.

After watching Clara interact with her children, Marian's roommate, Ainsley, announces that she wants to get pregnant. When Marian asks if this means that Ainsley wants to get married, Ainsley says no. She wants to raise the child by herself. She also wants to choose a man who will not make a fuss about getting married. Ainsley then proceeds to make inquiries about a friend of Marian's whose name was mentioned while they were dining at Clara's house. The old friend is Len Shank, and he has the reputation of a being a womanizer.

Peter is introduced in a phone conversation with Marian, in which he tells her about the engagement of his last remaining bachelor friend, Trigger. A day later, in an attempt to wear off his depression, Peter and Marian have sex in the bathtub, a setting that Marian describes as Peter's attempt at being spontaneous. Marian is disturbed with the incident, and for a variety of other reasons from that point until the end of the story her discomfort intensifies.

In a restaurant Marian introduces Peter to Len. Marian is surprised when Ainsley appears at their table. At this point Marian realizes that Ainsley has targeted Len as the proposed father of her child. Ainsley arrives dressed as an innocent virginal schoolgirl, intending to seduce Len. Through the rest of the evening, Marian is caught up in emotions that she does not understand. Marian finds herself disassociating from her body as Peter recounts a gory rabbit hunt to Len.

When they all go to Len's apartment, Marian hides under a bed. Eventually she is confronted by Peter, and she tells him she didn't know what she was doing. She runs away from Peter and is chased down by Peter in his car. Peter proposes marriage by telling her that it is time for him to settle down. Marian accepts and relinquishes to Peter all responsibility for making decisions.

Marian thinks, ”Peter is an ideal choice. He’s attractive and he’s bound to be successful”. Peter is portrayed as “ordinariness raised to perfection” whereas, Peter thinks Marian is suitable as a wife. She is undemanding and non-aggressive unlike other women. “A girl who won’t take over his life”.

Shortly after her engagement, Marian bumps into Duncan at a laundromat. It is the first time they have seen one another since the survey. They share an akward conversation, then kiss, stare at one another, and depart.

Part One ends with Marian commenting on her engagement, concluding that although her actions have recently been inconsistent with her true personality, life is run on adjustments. She then sees one of her childhood dolls and remembers how she used to leave food with this doll overnight but was always disappointed in the morning when the food had not been eaten. With this image, Atwood leads into the next section, which deals with Marian's eating problems. (anorexia due to Metaphorical Cannibalism)

Part Two (13-30 chapters)

Part Two begins with a third-person narrator. Instead of being inside Marian's head, the narrator now looks at Marian from a distance. There are other shifts as well. Clara has given birth to her third child and is once again in "possession of her own frail body." Peter has begun to stare at Marian as if he were trying to read her as he would read a manual of how to work a camera. Also in this section, Marian and Duncan's relationship intensifies. The more fascinated she becomes with Duncan, the less suited she is for coping with her life with Peter.

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