JulieM

If you have read very many Victorian novels then you know that the books almost always feature a 'marriage plot'. Whether it is a happily ever after ending like Jane Eyre or a tragic ending like Tess of the D'Urbevilles, the bulk of the book revolves around love triangles and the scheming that takes place in drawing rooms and parlors when Miss X is not a suitable match for Mr. Y even when they both love each other. But in the 21st century what is the criteria for suitability? It's no longer how many pounds a year someone is about to inherit or whether the family is (gasp) in trade. Jeffrey Eugenides' The Marriage Plot addresses the love triangle with today's social values. The book starts with the 3 points of the triangle, Madeleine, Leonard, and Mitchell, all struggling with their senior year at Brown University trying to finish their graduation requirements and deciding what to do in the following year - and for the rest of their lives. I loved the first part of this book. The whole college dating scene was funny and the book really captured that special feeling from senior year - pushing hard for the ultimate prize, a college diploma, but without knowing what comes next. After graduation, Madeleine and Leonard live in Cape Cod where Leonard has a genetics internship while Mitchell wanders through Europe and India, searching for his spiritual self. Much of the story focuses on Leonard's struggle with manic depression and the toll it places on his work as well as the relationship with Madeleine. The 2nd part of the book was well written but not that enjoyable. I felt it meandered and at the finish I wasn't sure if Eugenides was comparing an illness like bipolar disease to the social stigma of not being 'marriageable'. Still an enjoyable novel, but I was left feeling it lacked a solid conclusion.