“It was a kind of superstitious panic about the fact that I had actually signed my name, had put my signature to a magic document which seemed to bind me to a future so far ahead I couldn’t think about it.”

Marian has worked for Seymour Surveys for four months and is required to join the company’s Pension Plan. She does not like being required to do so, as it feels as if she is agreeing to commit her life to the company. Marian resents being locked in specific roles and worries about maintaining her individual identity when dealing with corporate culture.

“’It’s even more important than sex. It fulfills your deepest femininity.’”

When Ainsley announces that she plans to become pregnant, she argues that having a child fulfills a woman’s biological and social purpose. Her understanding of femininity as being linked with having a child come from her studies in psychology. Ainsley’s character represents the contradiction between traditional feminine roles and progressive femininity in that she desires to fulfill the expectation of having a child but plans to raise the child on her own.

“It was satisfying to be the only one who knew where I really was.”

While at Len’s apartment with Ainsley and Peter, Marian has the impulse to hide under Len’s bed and put distance between herself and the others. It is the night that Marian realizes that she and Peter are in a more serious relationship than she ever intended; this quote signifies Marian’s unwillingness to be stuck in a particular role or location.