A) As Margaret Atwood’s Life Before Man begins, the reader is introduced to the initial characters Elizabeth, her husband Nate and their children Janet and Nancy. The reader is also familiarized with Chris, Elizabeth’s former lover who has just taken his own life. The novel begins in Toronto in 1976, ending in 1978. The main storyline, Elizabeth’s affair and the decay of her marriage, is also presented.

B) Life Before Man ‘s inciting incident occurs as Elizabeth changes visibly with the suicide of her lover. Once a devoted wife and mother, she has abandoned cooking and cleaning, opting for hours spent in bed. She gives her husband and children little attention and even banishes Nate to a separate bedroom. She removes herself from reality, but allows no one to enter her world. Nate is forced to give up his career as a lawyer, as juggling both his and his wife’s former role becomes too challenging.

C) The rising action revolves around the complicated affairs that result in the end of Elizabeth and Nate’s marriage. The rising action begins as Nate has an affair of his own, becoming involved with one of his wife’s coworkers, Lesje. Elizabeth then plots reve

· Chris is Elizabeth’s former lover. When Elizabeth, who felt he wanted more out of their relationship than she was willing to offer, ended the affair, he commits suicide. Tiny, but muscular, he also worked at the museum.

· Life Before Man’s protagonist is Elizabeth Schoenhof. Once a classy, power hungry coordinator at Toronto’s Museum of Natural History, she has become lazy, appearing old and lifeless. She desperately seeks control, but with her lover’s suicide, her world unravels, as well as her marriage. She has little energy and is a complicated character.

· William is a former partner of Lesje and the man whom Elizabeth has an affair with. He is dull and unappreciative.

The novel illustrates mid life crisis amongst the upper class, in the decades following the women’s movement. The novel is clearly quite depressing, but interest is created with the protagonist’s difficulty to cope. Life Before Man allows the reader to question relationships and trust while realizing the complications that arise from both.

Life Before Man contains a number of physical, social and psychological conflicts. Each revolves around the devious characters responsible for the novel’s many marital complications. Conflict is first observed as Elizabeth indulges in an affair with a man named Chris, w

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