Marian MacAlpin

E485145

Marian MacAlpin is the conflicted young protagonist of Margaret Atwood’s novel "The Edible Woman," whose struggles with identity and societal expectations are central to the book’s feminist themes.

Jump to: Statements Referenced by

Statements (43)

Predicate Object
instanceOf fictional character
literary character
protagonist
ageInFiction young adult
appearsInLanguage English
appearsInWork The Edible Woman NERFINISHED
associatedWithMovement second-wave feminism (in literary criticism)
centralThemeRelation feminist themes
identity crisis
societal expectations
characterInGenre feminist fiction
climacticAct bakes and presents a woman-shaped cake
createdBy Margaret Atwood NERFINISHED
creatorNationality Canadian (Margaret Atwood)
criticalReceptionContext often discussed in feminist literary criticism
experiences alienation from her own body
anxiety about marriage
conflict with traditional gender roles
firstAppearanceYear 1969
foodRelatedMotif progressive inability to eat certain foods
gender female
hasCreatorRole author
includedInCurriculum university literature courses
literaryEra 20th-century literature
literarySignificance early example of Atwood’s exploration of female subjectivity
medium novel
narrativeFunction first-person focalizer in parts of the novel
narrativePerspective shifts from first person to third person around mid-novel
nationalityInFiction Canadian
occupationInFiction market researcher
relationshipWith Ainsley (roommate and friend) NERFINISHED
Duncan (friend and love interest) NERFINISHED
Peter (fiancé) NERFINISHED
roleInWork protagonist of "The Edible Woman"
setIn Toronto NERFINISHED
strugglesWith conformity to middle-class norms
loss of autonomy
symbolicActMeaning rejection of being metaphorically eaten or consumed
symbolicallyAssociatedWith food and consumption
objectification
symbolizes resistance to being consumed by patriarchal expectations
timePeriodInFiction 1960s
undergoes psychological transformation

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ainsley contrastsWith Marian MacAlpin
Duncan relatedToCharacter Marian MacAlpin