The Marriage Plot (2011) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters edit see section history

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• Madeleine Hanna: Self-described Victorianist. Attractive Brown English major addicted to Robert Barthes A Lover's Discourse who is the woman in the love triangle.
• Mitchell Grammaticus: A religious studies major in love with Madeleine Hanna.
• Leonard Bankhead: A brilliant but troubled science and philosophy major at Brown, Madeleine's boyfriend.
• Phyllida Hanna: Mother to Madeleine and Alwyn who once attempted to be an actress.
• Alton Hanna: Madeleine's father. Retired president of Baxter College in New Jersey.
• Larry Pleshette: Mitchell's college roommate and travelling partner.
• Claire Schwartz: Larry's feminist girlfriend who is living her junior year abroad in Paris.
• Alwyn Hanna Higgins: Madeleine's older sister. Married with a 6 month old son.
• Kelly Traub: College friend of Madeleine's. Aspiring actress and real estate agent.
• Diane MacGregor: Older biologist at Pilgrim Lake. A 79 year old scientist working on gene mutations.
• Dean Grammaticus: Mitchell's father, lives outside Detroit, MI
• Lillian Grammaticus: Mitchell's mother.
• Rita Bankhead: Leonard's alcoholic mother, who lives in Oregon.
• Richard the Lionhearted: Alwyn's infant son, nephew to Madeliene Hanna.
• Thurston Meems: Brown student, prone to dressing in black; Attends Semiotics 211 with Madeleine and Leonard
• Alicia: "Bedfellow" at Pilgrim Lake Labs; girlfriend of Vikram Jaitly
• Dan Schneider: Brown graduate; friend of Madeleine and Mitchell
• Pookie Ames: Brown student, friend of Madeleine
• Jennifer Boomgaard: Add a description of this character.
• Dabney Carlisle: one of Madeleine's college boyfriends; model, aspiring soap actor; very handsome
• Marc Wheeland
• Olivia: Madeleine's roommate senior year at Brown (off-campus housing)
• Kerbi
• Wendy Neuman
• Grover
• Harvey
• Bob Kilimnik: Biologist at Pilgrim Lake Labs; Leonard's boss
• Janice P.
• Bryce Ellis
• Henry
• Ted
• Hughes
• Luke Miller
• Dr. Perlmann: one of Leonard's doctors
• Blake Higgins: one of Madeleine's college boyfriends; gentle and kind but also a bit odd
• Dr. Shieu: one of Leonard's doctors
• Moss Runk: a Brown student
• Darlene Withers
• Lollie Ames
• Whitney
• Lloyd G. Holloway
• Janet
• Hermann Richter: A professor of Religious Studies at Brown; Mitchell's professor and mentor.
• Carrie Mox
• Claire Ruth
• Vikram Jaitly: a research assistant at Pilgrim Lake Labs; a colleague of Leonard's; boyfriend of Alicia
• Mark Walker
• Rüdiger: a German Mitchell meets in India
• Billy Bainbridge
• Iannis: a Greek Larry and Mitchell meet in Athens.
• Michael Zipperstein
• Lola Lopez
• Tim
• Professor Churchill
• David Malkiel
• Carl Beller: a research fellow at Pilgrim Lake Labs; a colleague of Leonard's
• Herb
• Mike
• Father Marucci
• Michael Zolodnek
• Geri
• Grimm
• Anne Wong: a friend of Madeleine's; met at an English literature conference; fellow Jane Austen enthusiast
• K. McCall Saunders
• Heidi
• Sven
• Abby: Madeline's senior year roommate at Brown
• M. Myerson
• Clyde
• Susan
• Godfrey: Leonard's friend in high school
• Bill
• Moira Pleshette: the mother of Mitchell's friend and roommate, Larry
• Ken Auerbach
• Frank Bankhead: Leonard's father
• Greta Malkiel
• Roger Pyle
• Vittorio
• Dr. Wilkins: A psychiatrist who treats Leonard.
• Cassandra Hart
• Meg Jones

Quotes edit see section history

• “The worst thing about religion was religious people.”

• “His mind felt as if it was fizzing over. Words became other words inside his head, like patterns in a kaleidoscope. He kept making puns. No one understood what he was talking about. He became angry, irritable. Now, when he looked at people, who'd been laughing at his jokes an hour earlier, he saw that they were worried, concerned for him. And so he ran off into the night, or day, or night, and found other people to be with, so that the mad party might continue...”

  Leonard

• “My goal in life is to become an adjective”

  Leonard

• “Madeline’s love troubles began when the French theory she was reading deconstructed the very notion of love.”

• “It might not even be that great to marry your ideal. Probably, once you attained your ideal, you got bored and wanted another.”

• “"I was worried that virginity was like getting your ears pierced. If you didn’t keep an earring in, the hole might close up. "”

• “A Lover’s Discourse was the perfect cure for lovesickness. It was a repair manual for the heart, its one tool the brain. If you used your head, if you became aware of how love was culturally constructed and began to see your symptoms as purely mental, if you recognized that being “in love” was only an idea, then you could liberate yourself from its tyranny.”

• “Just someone who knows, from personal experience, how attractive it can be to think you can save somebody else by loving them.”

• “Listen, a girl’s not a watermelon you plug a hole in to see if it’s sweet.”

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Providence, Rhode Island
• Brown University
• Prettybrook, New Jersey
• Calcutta
• Grosse Pointe, Michigan
• Paris
• Cape Cod
• Athens

Organizations edit see section history

• Deconstructions: Add a description of this organization.
• Missionaries of Charity
• Janeites: Literary critics who specialize in the works of Jane Austen.
• Pilgrim Lake Laboratories

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• The value of literature and words: Literature and literary discourse play an important role throughout the novel. All three of the major characters are "bookish" but the act of reading serves not only enjoyment. It fosters the exchange of ideas and serves as a catalyst for characters' major epiphanies.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Jeffrey Eugenides (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. David Pittu (Reader) - reads Audio CD unabridged edition from MacMillan audio

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Salon Book Award (2011: Fiction)
• Indies Choice Book Awards (2012: Adult Fiction)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3555.U4M37
• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

I would say that this book could be read by an older teen...but certainly has many "grown up" ideas and experiences that I wouldn't want a pre-teen or young teen reading about. Sexual content, some graphic scenes describing sexual acts, drug use, and mature language about relationships.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books That Influenced This Book edit see section history

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