As The Edible Woman focuses on Marian’s struggle to accept the expected, traditionally feminine role of wife and mother following Peter’s engagement, the novel’s theme of Autonomy and Societal Roles plays a large part in Marian’s decisions. Marian's distaste for marriage is grounded on the loss of autonomy she will experience as a married woman; she loses her job, must rely on Peter financially, and must fulfill the social role of a wife and mother rather than pursuing her own individual autonomy.

Marian’s first act of resistance against the loss of her autonomy through Peter occurs on the night she runs away from him, Len, and Ainsley after being out at a bar: “I had broken out; from what, or into what, I didn’t know. Though I wasn’t at all certain why I had been acting this way, I had at least acted” (81). The freedom Marian experiences is directly tied to her ability to make an autonomous decision for herself, even if that decision is merely to run a few blocks away from her friends. By running, Marian attempts to assert her right to choose whether she wants to be in this relationship, but by not verbally expressing her emotions to anyone else Marian’s decision goes largely unnoticed by the others.