The Women of Margaret Atwood's novels...

Atwood's books have been filled with women! What kind of women does she routinely portray...or are they different in every book? Perhaps we can explore this intriguing portrait galley together .

Describe a female characters in one of your favorite or recently read Atwood books. What part do they play in the novel? Are they credible characters? Do they change over the course of the novel? Tell us what you think about them.

Beginning at the beginning, Marian reacts with a sort of controlled hysteria to her impending conventional marriage to the dull Peter, she cuts more and more items from her diet until she can't even eat a raw carrot. Subconsciously she is sorting herself out and extracting herself from the role of housewife. I've always thought this was the most overtly feminist of Atwood's novels , although there is little polemic in it. I think this sort of heroine who muddles through crops up some of her other novels, but how could it not, as it's what most of us do.

I just finished reading Alias Grace. Grace is a complex character who remains shadowy through most of the novel. I loved how Atwood used the symbol of quilts to give us insight into Grace's character and to uncover the mystery.

SPOILER.....

About half way through the novel I figured out that Grace was probably a multiple personality (or at least a dual personality) - it explained everything. Because of this, however, I found Grace as a narrator to be somewhat unreliable. We really didn't know if we could trust her or her memories. To me this gave depth to the novel and to the character.

Atwood's women are always flawed, significantly so, but still sympathetic and therefore accessible to me. I like Marian, she doesn't have a lot of insight in the beginning and then she gets it together. Joan (Lady Oracle) is also similar, lacking in insight, until she finds herself in her art, or her art finds her? I found Penelope smart but frustrating, as she really resigned herself from beginning to end without much of a struggle.

>2 CommonReeda:, which Atwood novel is this? It sounds interesting - kind of reminds me of the plot of this old Julianne Moore movie called "Safe" (I think), in which the main character basically develops a violent allergy to her own married, suburban life.

>5 fannyprice: The edible woman Atwood's first novel. I read this in the late 60's when I was newly married and have been hooked on Margaret Atwood ever since.