Thematic Analysis in The Edible Women

Abstract

The Edible Women is one of the most outstanding novels of Margret Atwood which has set a big milestone in her writing career. The novel leaves multiple of interpretations since its subject touches the most sensitive and deepest chord of the society. The novel is more a social novel that it deals with the major issue of gender roles and relationships in general. Atwood has used the novel to magnify even the minute errors and ills of the society which is not touched by other writers of her time. She has clearly portrayed the actual problems of Canadian women of 1960s who have been suppressed by the patriarchal society. She has tried to name their problems which have no names and moreover her approaches to those problems are strange and new.And hence, the novel is called as a proto-feminist novel. Beyond the feministic point of view, the story conveys various themes such as self-discovery, marriage, love, sex, modernity, cultural attitude, relationship and many. Besides, the novel is filled with various symbolic and metaphorical elements that support the author’s presupposition of her world view. Therefore, the paper has made an inquiry in to various thematic elements and symbols to explore the hidden meanings bound with in the story.