Sunday, May 12, 2019

How can I compare/contrast The Edible Woman with The Great Gatsby or Hamlet through a feminist lens? (I need a developed thesis and 3 arguments as I am provided with an essay outline)

While The Edible Woman has a female protagonist, it shares with The Great Gatsby and Hamlet (which both have male protagonists) a fundamental concern with issues of identity and authenticity. Marian resembles Gatsby in that they are both trying to be someone else. Marian commits to marrying Peter but does not actually love him; Gatsby changes his name and pursues wealth, but he does not really care for these things. A point of contrast would be that Marian is not motivated by true love, but Gatsby is. Another avenue of analysis would be to compare Marian to Daisy in terms of female characters within inauthentic lives: Marian escapes; Daisy does not.
In terms of Hamlet, the primary similarities seem to be decision-making. Both Marian and Hamlet have difficulty making decisions. In Marian’s case, she wishes to follow the status quo but finds herself unable to do so; Hamlet wants to be a man by taking the active path of revenge but suffers moral qualms. One might draw on Polonius’s speech, “to thine own self be true,” or on Hamlet’s soliloquy about the very nature of existence: Marian needs desperately to be true to herself and is in danger of ceasing to exist if she does not resume eating.

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