The Edible Woman

Peter and Marian share in the dinner Marian picked up from the grocery store: smoked meat and frozen peas. Peter is still unhappy about his friend getting married but complains that Marian doesn’t cook anything for them. Marian doesn’t want to overstep Peter’s boundaries and “had been deliberately refraining at Peter’s for fear he would feel threatened” (65) if she began to cook for him. He comments that Marian is too “sensible” to expect marriage from him, which is his favorite characteristic of her personality.

They meet Len Slack at a hotel bar. After introductions, Len and Peter bond over how unreasonable women are in expecting marriage from any man that shows interest in them. Ainsley shows up unannounced and uninvited. She is dressed to look younger than her actual age and puts on an act of naivety for Len, hoping to attract him. Marian realizes that Ainsley must be considering Len as a man who could be tricked into impregnating her; it would be unethical not to warn Len of this, but Marian is afraid of angering Ainsley.

Peter and Len continue to talk about hunting gear. Marian realizes that she is crying inexplicably and rushes to the bathroom to hide her emotions. Ainsley follows her there and warns Marian against revealing her ploy to Len. They return to the table and spend the rest of the evening listening to Peter and Len talk, during which Marian experiences another wave of panic. She conceals her emotions again, then the group decides to go to Len’s apartment to continue drinking. As they walk onto the street, Marian suddenly has the urge to run down the street and away from the group.

Though Marian is shocked to find herself running, she has no notion of stopping. Peter calls after her with “fury in his voice: this was the unforgivable sin because it was public” (74). Peter and Ainsley go to get Peter’s car while Len runs after her. Running away makes Marian feel exhilarated and freed, but the situation suddenly turns serious for her when she sees Peter’s car attempting to cut her off at an upcoming intersection. She runs through a gate and onto private property surrounded by a brick wall she has to scale to escape. She climbs over the wall and falls to the other side; Peter is there and catches her. Marian is comforted by Peter’s presence and her panic fades. The group continues on to Len’s apartment while Marian is feeling extremely guilty: “I was filled with penitence, but there was no outlet for it” (77). While the men talk and Ainsley gives them her silent attention, Marian has a sudden impulse to go underneath Len’s bed. She squeezes herself underneath, where she finds relief that no one knows where she really is.

Under the bed, Marian reflects on her relationship with Peter, realizing that their arrangement is more serious than she wants. Ainsley once commented that Peter was “monopolizing” Marian’s time; it is only while under the bed that Marian understands the implications of this comment. The others discover her under the bed and make her come out, but their amusement at her causes her to feel rage. When the three of them leave Len’s apartment, Marian runs away down the street again, reassured that her decision to run must imply that she has ended things with Peter. A storm begins as Marian notices Peter’s car pull up in the intersection in front of her. Believing herself to be free of Peter’s influence, she gets in the car to avoid being drenched by the rain.

Peter accuses her of behaving oddly that night out of a rejection of her femininity. Drunk, Peter drives recklessly through the storm, running over hedges and stopping short. He pulls up to her apartment building and has her wait until the rain lessens. Peter becomes affectionate, forgiving Marian for her unexpected behavior, then proposes to her that they get married.

The next morning, Marian joins Ainsley for breakfast. They discuss the previous night and Ainsley’s attempts to use her psychology training to attract Len in the right way. Marian announces that she and Peter are engaged to which Ainsley responds, “’I don’t think you know what you’re doing’” (87). Marian claims that she must have always wanted to marry Peter subconsciously. By referencing subconscious psychology, Ainsley is won over to accept Marian’s decision. Again, Marian considers whether she should warn Len but ultimately decides she doesn’t want to become involved in the situation.

Peter arrives unexpectedly. When Marian and Peter see each other, a moment passes in which Marian perceives they can dissolve the engagement; however, neither does anything, and the engagement is finalized. Marian continues to conceal her true emotions even though she feels like a “new car” to Peter. Peter talks about how his image as a lawyer will improve from having a wife, and Marian considers her new feelings of ownership over him: “I could feel stirrings of the proprietary instinct. So this object, then, belonged to me” (93). When Peter asks her when she’d like to get married, Marian admits that she would prefer to leave big decisions to him.

After Peter leaves that afternoon, Marian is too anxious to relax. She gathers her and Ainsley’s laundry to bring to the laundromat, Ainsley giving her a pile of lingerie to clean. On the bus, Marian looks at the girdle advertisements posted above the windows. It is incongruous to her that the ads feature attractive women seemingly for men when the target audience is women.

At the laundromat, Marian realizes she forgot her laundry detergent. Duncan, also doing his laundry at the same laundromat, offers her some. They sit and watch their laundry spin as Duncan explains he often comes to watch the laundry when he is stressed about his schoolwork or roommates. He describes how he and his roommates are all graduate students in English and how he set fire to the apartment the previous week out of an impulse. His roommates are now worried for his mental health and treat him as if he is their child. They collect their laundry when finished and leave. On the street outside the laundromat, Marian “found [her]self kissing him, or being kissed by him, [she] still don’t know which” (106). They part without saying anything else to each other.

As Marian has the day off on Monday for a holiday, she spends the day in the apartment collecting her feelings on the events of the weekend. She considers her engagement as inevitable, something everyone in their society does. Though Ainsley is against marriage on principle and has tried to influence Marian’s thoughts on the matter, Marian finds it impossible to avoid marriage altogether. She does not think that her kissing Duncan has anything to do with her relationship with Peter and therefore does not feel guilty about her actions.