Alias Grace
A novel by renowned
Canadian author
Margaret Atwood
Reviews for Alias Grace
• “Brilliantly realized, intellectually provocative and
maddeningly suspenseful, [Alias Grace] has already been
hailed as a work that confirms Atwood as the outstanding
novelist of our age.”
– Macleans, Canada
• “Through characteristically elegant prose and a mix of
narrative techniques, Atwood not only crafts an eerie,
unsettling tale of murder and obsession, but also a
stunning portrait of the lives of women in another time.”
– Kirkus Reviews, USA
• “Atwood’s humor has never been slyer, her
command of complex material more adept,
her eroticism franker, or her descriptive
passages more lyrical. This is a
stupendous performance and bound to win
Atwood even greater acclaim.”
– Booklist, USA
Margaret Atwood’s
Birthplace: Ottawa, Ontario
Margaret Atwood’s
Education
• Victoria College, University of Toronto,
B.A., 1961
• Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Mass., A.M.,
1962
• Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.,
1962-63, 1965-67
Margaret Atwood’s
Employment History
• Lecturer in English, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 196465
• Instructor in English, Sir George Williams University, Montreal, 196768; University of Alberta, 1969-70
• Assistant Professor of English, York University, Toronto, 1971-72
• Writer-In-Residence, University of Toronto, 1972-73;
• M.F.A. Honorary Chair, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama,
1985
• Berg Chair, New York University, 1986
• Writer-In-Residence, Macquarie Univ., Australia, 1987
• Writer-In-Residence, Trinity Univ., San Antonio, Texas, 1989
A Few Novels by Margaret
Atwood
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The Edible Woman
Lady Oracle
Cat’s Eye
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Robber Bride
Alias Grace
The Blind Assassin
One-woman show: actor Caroline Lee plays
Grace Marks in the Malthouse's return-season
production of Alias Grace.
Voluntary Confession of
Grace Marks
Nineteenth-century illustration depicting prison
laborers outside the Kingston Penitentiary,
located in Toronto, Canada
Kingston Penitentiary
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
St. Mary’s Cathedral,
Kingston
Map of Kingston in 1875
So now let’s study…
Sections 1-3, Chapters 1-5
• 1. How does Atwood’s decision to alternate
between Grace’s memories, news
accounts, and a historical poem in the
book’s initial chapters impact the reader’s
understanding of events in the text?
• The varying accounts show the reader that
history is developed through personal
memories, shaped by the news media, and
mythologized or made symbolic through
literature.
• The poem’s rhyming lines give a sing-song,
frantic quality to the tale.
• 2. Grace has a vision of red peonies and of
an incident at the home of Mr. Kinnear.
What is her role in this vision, and how
does that role conflict with the poetic
account of the same incident that follows?
• Grace in chapter 1 has a vision of Nancy
Montgomery suddenly struck and bleeding, and
Grace intends to help and for none of what
happens to happen; yet she is blocked from
acting by the image of a man in a doorway,
preventing her from getting out.
• The poem in chapter 2, however, indicates Grace
helped McDermott (the man in the doorway) to
murder both Nancy and Mr. Kinnear and had
motives for doing so.
3. What might the name
“Grace Marks” symbolize?
• Grace has fallen from “grace” and suffered
“marks” against her reputation.
• Yet at the same time, she is a person who,
for all the “marks” on record against her,
has the opportunity for redemption during
her lifetime.
• 4. Grace talks about “collectors.” What
does she mean by this term, and who are
the collectors around her?
• Grace refers to people who objectify or watch
others for fun and sport as “collectors.”
• The doctors, wardens, journalists, jailers, and
even her somewhat benevolent employer, the
governor’s wife, all collect parts of her story for
their own ends, using or distorting Grace’s story
in the process.
• The governor’s wife collects news clippings of
criminals, including Grace.
5. What does Grace’s reaction to
Simon say about her ability to trust
others?
• Grace has been hurt by others when
sharing information about herself.
• She has learned to hide her thoughts and
even employs a “stupid face” in order to
conceal her thoughts.
• She is also unaccustomed to people
questioning her, but fears they’ll use her
answers and opinions against her, possibly
punishing her or sending her to the asylum
Section 4, Chapters 6-11
1. What do the letters between Simon and
others reveal about nineteenth-century
social prejudices concerning mental
patients?
• The letters reveal that in the Puritan era, men and
women live under rigid social expectations.
Simon, as a doctor, faces social obstacles about
the type of medicine he is pursuing.
• His work challenges both traditional medicine and
notions of spirituality currently in vogue.
• His mother is a voice of society, urging him to use
other talents and not fool with lunatics.
2. How does Grace’s gender
impact others’ perception of
her?
• Grace is the subject of undesired attention
and sexual remarks from prison guards,
and possibly the prison doctors and
warden.
• Even Simon speculates on whether
Reverend Verringer, the minister leading a
committee petitioning her release, must be
in love with Grace.
• 4. What does Simon hope to achieve by
showing Grace fruits and vegetables? What
results from bringing these items to Grace?
• Simon hopes Grace will be reminded of the cellar
at Mr. Kinnear’s, the scene of the crime drama
where Grace’s memory has lapsed.
• Nancy Montgomery was found strangled to death
in the cellar, but Grace hasn’t been able to recall
her role in that, if any.
• Grace, however, thinks only of how to cook the
vegetables when Simon presents them to her.
• 5. Simon observes that Grace hasn’t been
able to voice her story, which is something
Grace is also aware of. Who has told her
story instead in these chapters?
• Grace’s story has been recorded in poems and
the journalist Susanna Moodie in her book Life in
the Clearings, which is quoted at the beginning of
several sections of the novel.
• Grace’s experiences have been interpreted by
lawyers, like Kenneth MacKenzie who made her
appear stupid, and by doctors, such as Dr.
Bannerling, and by people who run the mental
asylum.
Sections 5-6, Chapters 12-20
• 1. Why is Mary Whitney an important friend
for Grace? What virtues does she
possess?
• Mary Whitney is democratic and believes people
are created equal.
• She knows how to participate in society’s
systems yet maintain her own opinion—she has
the “self-possessed” nature Grace develops as
she matures.
• She serves as a sister or mother figure to Grace,
protecting her against exploitation by her father,
teaching her the facts of life and sharing in
pranks with a similar sense of humor.
• 2. Superstitions are a part of Grace’s world.
Name three superstitions and explain how
they advance the story.
Three examples (there are of course more):
• When Grace and Mary toss apple peels and
Mary’s break, that predicts that Mary will never
live to marry.
• Grace’s mother sees crows on the ship from
Belfast, a sign of bad luck predicting her death
during the crossing to North America.
• Jeremiah the peddler tells Grace she has sharp
rocks ahead, which readers already know to be
true.
• 3. In Grace’s world, pregnancy is a difficult
state. Explain why pregnancy is disgraceful
or difficult, first in Ireland and then in
Canada.
• To become pregnant while not married is a
great shame.
• Grace learns her mother may have gotten
pregnant before marriage, and once
married, Grace’s mother’s many
pregnancies create a large family that her
parents can’t afford to feed.
• For young women, pregnancy and nonmarital sex are scandalous acts.
• 4. How do the voices Grace hears and the
amnesia Grace experiences following Mary
Whitney’s death set the stage for the
eventual discovery of why Grace can’t
remember the murder at Mr. Kinnear’s?
• Grace hears a voice that she believes is Mary’s
soul asking to be “let in” and then “let out.”
• Grace believes she may not have let the soul out
in time.
• This folk practice involved opening the window so
the soul can exit a dead body.
• Right after that, Grace enters a sleep and wakes
in a zombie-like state she can’t recall, asking
where she, Grace, is, as if her body is inhabited
by someone else.
• 5. Mrs. Alderman Parkinson plans to tell a
lie to hide the source of Mary’s death. How
has Grace seen others lie or enter a state
of denial to protect their status?
• McDermott lied to shift responsibility for the
murder onto others.
• Grace’s father feigns interest in Mrs. Burt to
receive benefits for the family.
• Grace lies about her age in order to secure
employment and doesn’t tell the papers where
she grew up to protect her Aunt Pauline.
• Mary conceals her relationship, ring, and
pregnancy from Grace for a long time.