The trials and tribulations of growing up

Jeffrey Eugenides ranks among the most influential American writers of his generation. Since the publication of his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Middlesex in 2002, his third novel has been awaited eagerly. The long wait was well worth it. The Marriage Plot is a captivating coming-of-age drama portraying three Brown University graduates trying to make sense of the life ahead of them.

The story begins in the summer of 1982 with the graduation day of Madeleine, Leonard and Mitchell. The book then slowly unwraps scenes from their past three college years and ends one year after they have left university. Madeleine is an intelligent but somewhat naive girl from a good family. She is majoring in English with a dissertation on the marriage plot of the 19th century novel. Like their Victorian heroines Madeleine is made to choose between two suitors, the charismatic but sinister biology student Leonard and the overly intellectual Mitchell. Madeleine and Leonard are soon entangled in a tumultuous passion along the lines of ‘Mitchell loves Madeleine. Madeleine loves Leonard. Leonard loves Madeleine – whenever he is not too depressed’. Somewhat disappointed, Mitchell sets off on a journey to self-discovery through Europe and India, oscillating between fanatic spirituality, charity work and psychedelic dreams. All along, he is incessantly contemplating whether his love for God outweighs his love for Madeleine or whether it’s the other way around after all.

At the same time, Madeleine moves with Leonard to Cape Cod where he works in a biology lab. While applying to graduate school, Madeleine increasingly takes over the role of caretaker and 19th century homemaker for the manic-depressive Leonard. The more helpless Madeleine feels in the face of her partner’s mental illness, the more she forsakes the freedoms of the 1980s, trying to pursue an outdated model of happiness. In the end, all three characters are forced to come to terms with the realities of the 20th century.

Eugenides jumps back and forth in the plot, handing the role of narrator from one protagonist to the next, portraying one and the same event from different angles. Taking turns in telling the story, the three characters lead readers deeper into the love triangle at the core of the novel.

He too conveys unread-of and to the point expressions, dressing insights in images that are more than just decorative stylistic elements. Barthes’ book ‘A Lover’s Discourse’ plays a key role in the first part of the novel. Madeleine reads it obsessively, desperately looking for guidance in the highs and lows of her relationship with Leonard. In the end, this very book is at the core of a showdown between the two and finally becomes the embodiment of their crashed romance. As she is storming out of Leonhard’s room (and life), Madeleine notices ‘the book lying open on the floor like a bird that had knocked itself out against a windowpane.’

Unfortunately, despite the ‘page turner’ qualities of ‘The Marriage Plot’, its first chapters are sluggish, keeping the story somehow distant and detached from its readers. Although readers are being told most of the story through Madeleine’s eyes, her character stays faceless until the very end of the novel, failing to reveal her ulterior motives and feelings.

Nonetheless, ‘The Marriage Plot’ is a novel definitely worth picking up. Readers will enjoy walking around in these young lives, mulling on questions like ‘Who do I want to be?’, ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Who could I be?’ and the unexpected conclusions arrived at.