An analysis of The Edible Woman by Margaret AtwoodThe Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir was written approximately twenty-one years before The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood and yet it summarizes the gender inequality. encountered by the female human species. In De Beauvoir's book, she dismantles the foundations of gender inequality as well as the myths and stereotypes attached to being a woman. Atwood's novel, on the other hand, symbolically identifies the stereotype that women must endure their entire lives as the second sex. The objective of this article is to analyze Atwood's novel, The Edible Woman using the theories discussed by De Beauvoir. Marian McAlpin is the main character of the novel. Other characters attempt to fit her into a "box" or place her in a label that almost causes her to self-destruct. We have the “office virgins” group represented by Lucy, Amy and Millie, the “sedentary and procreative” stereotype – Clara Bates and the “liberal feminist” stereotype – Ainsley Tewce and the “lonely spinster”. Every stereo guy (except Ainsley) wanted the main character Marian to marry a good guy because time "passes". Drawing on de Beauvoir's analysis that biological differences do not constitute norms of superiority of men over women, Atwood confronts the question of society's expectations of women. Women are considered complete when they settle down and become mothers. Ainsley's quest for a child without marriage is also one of these paradoxes, Ainsley still wants to have a child despite her belief that women should go against expectations. She is a "proto-feminist" and believes that women should have the right to choose and yet she is the one who tells Marian that "she (Marian) turned her back on him...... middle of paper." .... .we find it again in the novel when Marian finally discovers Peter's true self. She runs towards Duncan and also considers Duncan a manipulator. Marian has been conditioned her entire life to follow the proper schedule for a woman. She followed her parents, she followed the ideal of owning a clean house, she followed her boyfriend's expectations and proposal. Even though she tried hard to rebel, she still followed what was expected in a relationship where she was caring for a "wounded soul" in Duncan's character.Lyons, Brooke. , 1992. Using other people's terrible childhoods. In Ingersoll, E.G. (ed.) Margaret Atwood. Conversation, London: Virago, 221-33 Alleyne, Richard, January 20, 2012. A couple raises a child neutrally; ^ de Beauvoir, Simone., 1949. The Second Sex