Sexual jokes are the main theme in comedy in Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman, but are they still funny after realizing that Marian is only being used for sex, or that Len's attraction to young girls is used to manipulate him? The Edible Woman is an anti-comedy because uses comical and ironic scenes which relate to serious and dark problems in reality. Although Marian's world is filled with events that are humorous, they relate to everyday issues in real life society. Atwood uses anti-comedy to address the themes of the ritual between genders, manipulation in society, and sexual predation. .
Atwood uses anti-comedy to emphasize the traditional ritual of men chasing after women, and the woman runs just enough to let the man catch her. This is evident when Marian runs away from Peter, Len and Ainsley without warning. "On the street the air was cooler; there was a slight breeze. I let go of Peter's arm and began to run " (Atwood, 77). This may seem like a comical situation because Marian had no physical reason to run, making her seem odd or crazy. However, the true purpose of why she is running is actually very serious. Marian runs because after she heard Peter's story about him hunting a rabbit, she saw herself as the prey and Peter the hunter. Her subconsciousness tells her that Peter is slowly consuming her identity so she instinctively runs away as any prey would against it's predator. Marian gets caught anyways and ends up accepting Peter's proposal to marriage, completing the ritual of men chasing women.
Atwood also uses anti-comedy to inform readers of the situation of manipulation and disguises. Ainsley and Len are both sexual predators, but Ainsley disguises herself and plays the role of sexual prey in order to seduce Len into getting her pregnant. It may seem humorous because Ainsley is pretending to be a young girl and Len is getting what he deserves for sexually preying on young girls, but Ainsley's true intentions of her disguise are a very serious problem in society.