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Chapter 20
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Edible Woman, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Gendered Expectations vs. Personal Identity
Consumerism and Consumption
Bodies, Pregnancy, and Food
Language, Meaning, and Alienation
Routine, Repetition, and Resistance
Summary
Analysis
Over the next three weeks, Marian sees Duncan more often and more intentionally. Now, they are at the museum together, looking down over a balustrade at some school children on a class trip. Though Duncan is as self-absorbed as ever, Marian finds some comfort in the fact that he expects so little from her. When Duncan says, “you know, I don’t even really like you very much,” Marian feels under no obligation to answer. But when Peter, in the exact same position, says “I love you,” he always expects a response.
Marian shows less and less agency in all aspects of her life—but in seeing Duncan secretly, she is making an active, deeply personal choice. As has frequently been true, both Duncan and Peter see Marian as a way to pass the time, choosing her more for what she represents than because they truly “like” her. But while Duncan is open about the transactional nature of their relationship, Peter dresses it up like love, a dishonesty that frightens Marian.
Themes
Marian dreads the idea of Peter and Duncan ever meeting, though she does not know “who would be destroyed by whom.” For that reason, Marian never lets Duncan come over to her place. And he never lets Marian come to his apartment, even though Trevor and Fish are eager to have Marian over for dinner and “welcome [her] to the family.”
In recent weeks, Marian has become obsessed with the “destruction” involved in the basic act of eating. But now, Marian begins to apply that idea of “destruction” to the people in her life, imagining the same violence she sees in steak and pork in some future feud between Duncan and Peter.
Themes
In the museum, Marian and Duncan have arrived at the ancient Egypt wing. Duncan explains that he often comes here to look at the mummified bodies, and Marian is fascinated by Duncan’s fascination. When Marian realizes that Duncan is trying to kiss her, she shudders, put off more than usual by his thinness. Fortunately, a museum guard interrupts, politely letting the duo know that no kissing is allowed in the museum.
Duncan’s thinness, almost mummy-like, is scary to Marian—but perhaps it is also comforting, a sign that Duncan avoids the over-consumption (at least to some extent) that Marian sees all around her.
Themes
At the museum coffee shop, Duncan tells Marian that he wants to “go to bed” with her. When Marian protests that she is engaged, Duncan waves her off, explaining that he has never slept with anyone and is curious to try it. Besides, even though he does not feel anything like “raging lust” for Marian, he imagines she would be competent and knowledgeable in bed.
Unlike Len, who sees women as either “little girls” or “little sluts,” Duncan sees Marian as a potential source of sexual knowledge and comfort. Yet even as Duncan’s views are less stereotypical, he again prioritizes his own desires—or at least practical plans—above Marian’s feelings and circumstances.
Themes
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Just then, Marian spots Trevor and Fish across the coffee shop. Marian tells Duncan to go say hello to his “parents,” and when he returns, he seems like a small child, obediently asking Marian if she wants to come over to dinner tonight. Marian agrees, though she tells Duncan that she has been struggling to eat most types of food. Duncan is understanding: “I’ve always thought eating was a ridiculous activity anyway,” he confesses.
By recreating this strange, almost comical family unit with Trevor and Fish (his surrogate “parents”), Duncan subtly challenges the domestic norms Marian feels so beholden to. Perhaps it is only logical, then, that Marian feels she can share her aversion to food with Duncan—after all, who better to see the innate “ridiculousness” of dinner parties than someone who seems to make fun of the whole culture that makes such parties possible?
Themes
