Book Report Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman.
During Marian's lifetime women were more liberated, brought different customs and values where women were becoming more educated, allowed to work, vote and even drink and smoke than in the past. In Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman, however, Marian is still submissive to her male partner Peter. Because she is passive she allows Peter to dominate her in such a way that he influences her to become someone she really isn't. Marian's shift in pronoun represents a cycle where she becomes a confident woman with higher self-esteem. Atwood uses a cake, which Marian bakes to symbolize her future by taking control of her life by becoming more aggressive and open with her options. In Margaret Atwood's, The Edible Woman, gender attributes remained to be present through the novel, Marian displays a submissive role towards her dominating partner Peter, which is exhibited through the shift of pronoun and the symbol of the cake.
Simone De Beauvoir's work relates to how women are seen as sex objects to the male gender. She believes that a woman's condition hasn't changed as sex objects, ever since the ancient Greek times (De Beauvoir 1952,343). She writes:"The mere presence of her flesh swells and erects the male sex- (De Beauvoir 1952, 345)."Because she is reduced to servicing men through her sex for either pleasure or procreation women is exploited" (De Beauvoir 1952,342 ).
Though eras have changed and evolved, it is evident to see in The Edible Woman how Marian is presented with various roles of women in her society. She is confused as to which one she desires to conform to. Marian would display a trait that becomes associated with being a woman, which was passivity towards their dominant male counterparts. Many times throughout the novel, Marian submissively surrenders to what the males want or desire. Marian's fiancé, Peter Wollander is a successful law student who is the ideal man for all women: smart, handsome and rich.