Peter sees Marian as a side order to show off to everyone. When Peter asks Marian when she would like to get married, once again submissive, she allows Peter to take control, she tells Peter that she wants him to make all the big decisions. During a date with Peter, Marian soon becomes afraid of being a victim of Peter's in the same way he proudly described killing and gutting a rabbit. This symbolism of being hunted like prey tells the reader about women's views in that era. She realizes that she has fit into a stereotype of what society wants a woman to be; passive towards the greater sex; men.
According to Simone De Beauvoir, the role males play are that of what nature intended. Male roles are what they are and women's roles are too because of how they are socialized and brought up. De Beauvoir mentions in her work, "To see things clearly is not her business, for she has been taught to accept masculine authority, so she gives up criticizing, investigating, judging for herself and leaves all this to the superior caste" (De Beauvoir 1952,346 ).
Males on the other hand, show traits to be generally dominating in every scenario. There is Peter Wollander who proposes to Marian soon after he finds out that he is the last of his friends to get married. Peter expects Marian to adjust to the role that she is going to be his wife. He tells her to go to a hairdresser and to buy a fancier dress that then of what she normally wears. She allows Peter to make decisions for her yet he even expects her to prepare food at his party by saying, " and then come on out to the kitchen and help me get things ready. Women are so much better at arranging things on plates" (Atwood 1969, 252).While Marian was assigned to do the women's role of preparing the food, Peter carries out the male's role of preparing the drinks.
The Edible Woman is divided into three parts that represents a shift of pronoun. In part one of the novel, Marian is thinking to herself, speaking in first person narrative.
