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TS/AP-JL/PL/DL/SET/NET- ENGLISH LITERATURE
Novel:The Edible Woman- Margaret Atwood- Characters

Characters
Marian McAlpin • the novel’s protagonist,
• 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.
• 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 • 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.
• Sheworks 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 • 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.

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 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.
Duncan • 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.
Len Slank: • is a bachelor friend of Marian's from college; works in television.
• Len Slank: (Leonard Slank)
Clara Bates: • another friend from college; dropped out second year to marry Joe and now has three
children
Joe Bates: • Marries Clara; Professor at a University;
The three office • Lucy, Emmy, and Millie
virgins: •
Mrs. Bogue, • head of the research department at Marian's firm
•
The Lady • is Marian and Ainsley's landlady, allegorically representing traditional female ideals..
Down Below:
Trevor • Trevor: One of Duncan’s roomates; a good cook; student of English Literature;
fan of T.S. Eliot;
Fischer • Duncan's roommates, also graduate students in English;
Smythe: • Intellectual; ponders about Sex & Womb symbols;
• is attracted to Ainsley Tewce at a party and realizes that she is already Pregant;
• marries her;
The Lady • (The Land Lady) is Marian and Ainsley's landlady, allegorically representing
Down Below: traditional female ideals.
Themes • Loss of identity; Alienation; Autonomy & Societal Roles;
Traditional & Self-Defined Femininity; Consumerism & Identity;

English Literature
By
Dr. KUNCHAM VENKANNA
MA, M.Ed., M.Phil., PGCTE, Ph.D.(EFLU)
SET, UGC-NET & JRF (Eng. Lit & Edn)

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