Life Before Man: Analysis of Major Characters
"Life Before Man" is a novel that explores the complexities of modern relationships through its major characters, primarily focusing on Elizabeth Schoenhof, a thirty-nine-year-old museum employee grappling with her past and present. Elizabeth's life is marked by a chaotic upbringing, having a chronically alcoholic mother and an absent father, which has fueled her desire for control. Her narrative is deeply intertwined with her husband Nate, who is portrayed as indecisive and ineffectual, struggling to assert himself in both his personal and professional life. The story is further complicated by Nate's new lover, Lesje, an insecure paleontologist who finds herself in a challenging relationship dynamic after Nate moves in with her. The novel also introduces Chris, Elizabeth's former lover, whose tragic suicide serves as a catalyst for the unfolding drama. Other significant characters include Martha, Nate's former lover, and William, Lesje's initial partner, who add layers to the exploration of love and disappointment. The interactions and conflicts among these characters illustrate a nuanced critique of contemporary marriage and the quest for emotional fulfillment, reflecting on themes of identity, love, and the complexities of human connections.
Life Before Man: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Margaret Atwood
First published: 1979
Genre: Novel
Locale: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Plot: Domestic realism
Time: The late 1970's
Elizabeth Schoenhof (SHEHN-hohf), the thirty-nine-year-old protagonist, who works in special projects in a Toronto museum of natural history. Elizabeth desperately needs to be in control, of her own life as well as the lives of others. As the daughter of a chronically alcoholic mother and a frequently absent father, she had to become streetwise at an early age. When her former lover Chris kills himself, her world begins to unravel. Still, the other characters continue to orbit around Elizabeth, which is a tribute to her very real strength. For some years, she and Nate have had an open marriage, but they no longer have a sexual relationship themselves, although they confide in each other about their separate affairs. At the end, she lets Nate go to live with his current lover, Lesje, and is trying to find happiness in her new arrangement. Elizabeth is clearly the central character in the tangled sexual skein that makes up the novel, which is a mildly acidic portrait of modern marriage.
Nate Schoenhof, her thirty-four-year-old husband, trained as a lawyer. A man with little backbone and with less moral sense, Nate “dropped out” from the world of lawyering because he wanted his life to be “honest.” He has recently been a woodworker making toys at home, but he sometimes seems more the child for whom the toys have been made, especially in his relationship with Elizabeth. He sees himself as persecuted by three generations of women—his mother and his daughters included—but reality is that Nate is ineffectual and indecisive, and Elizabeth must dismiss him in the end when he cannot make up his own mind about what he wants to do.
Lesje (LEHS-yeh), Nate's new lover, an assistant paleontologist at the same museum where Elizabeth works. She became interested in dinosaurs as a child and never lost that interest; she now prepares dinosaur and other fossil exhibits at the museum. Lesje is the complete opposite of Elizabeth—frightened, insecure, and unable to deal with other people's anger or desperation—and her life is lived in reaction to Elizabeth's. When Elizabeth dismisses Nate and he moves in with Lesje, Lesje is not sure her life has improved. She is now pregnant and yearns for the simpler life she had earlier with William.
Chris, Elizabeth's former lover, who killed himself after Elizabeth ended their affair, when he wanted more from it than she was willing to give. Chris had also worked in the museum where Elizabeth and Lesje hold their jobs. It is his shotgun suicide that moves the action of the novel forward.
Martha, Nate's most recent former lover, a secretary at the legal firm where he once worked. She is attractive but lacks self-respect and is easily hurt by his absences.
William, the man with whom Lesje is living at the opening of the novel. He is involved in pollution research and tends to take Lesje for granted. He comes from London, Ontario, unlike the other main characters, who grew up in Toronto, and he appears naïve in comparison to them. Elizabeth sleeps with William once but finds no pleasure in it. Like the other men in the novel, William seems a dinosaur in some dark pre-history of “life before man,” that is, before the beginnings of what the author would like to see as truly civilized human sexual relations.
Janet and Nancy, Nate and Elizabeth's young daughters.
Auntie Muriel, the miserly woman who reared Elizabeth and her sister after their alcoholic mother died. When her aunt is dying in the hospital, Elizabeth can only comfort and forgive her. It fits Elizabeth's character perfectly that so few people know about her background.