On its surface, The Marriage Plot is a novel about romance and in particular a love triangle between protagonists Madeleine, Leonard and Mitchell. The marriage plot (see: most Victorian literature written by and for women) drives the action in a very literal and figurative sense, allowing Eugenides to play with the romantic tropes of literature that feel so second-nature to readers. I would argue that the real romance, however, is between Madeleine (who, let's face it, is the real protagonist, even though the men's perspectives are represented), and literature. Without spoiling anything, the romantic plotlines have their ups and down, but Madeleine's deep connection to fiction is constant. When her life lacks direction, Jane Austen gets her back on course, but not in the way one would expect.
My book club read The Marriage Plot when it was published. I think it's the only time we read something the very month that it came out, and everyone remembers the hype that surrounded the release. Reviews were very mixed, and some women authors were critical of its marketing, which banked on the prior success of its author; in other words, because it was a Eugenides novel, it was serious literature, but if the same book had been written by a woman, it would have been designed, packaged, and sold very differently. True or untrue, that isn't really fair to Eugenides, as it is far beyond his control, nor should it color anyone's perception of the novel.
Of our five-member book club, two loved The Marriage Plot, and three were at best ambivalent (at worst, I would say they hated it). I was in the love camp, although I found everyone's criticism and concerns very valid. I am certainly biased when it comes to Eugenides. Middlesex and The Virgin Suicides are two of my favorite novels; he grew up in Grosse Pointe Park, only a few blocks from my house so I have to champion a native son; plus, I heard him speak and do a reading at the University of Michigan when I was an undergraduate, and he was truly excellent. I will continue to read everything he publishes, and I will always give him more leniency than I give other authors.
Even though the flaws of The Marriage Plot were obvious to me, I loved it anyway, in large part because I related to Madeleine so completely, and found her romance with books and literature so charming. I think much of the criticism stemmed from the fact that so many people read and loved Middlesex, and the two novels could not really be more different. Where Middlesex is epic and sprawling, The Marriage Plot is contained and domestic. Cal is an incredible narrator and protagonist, and we follow his formation and coming-of-age from conception, whereas Madeleine is introduced to us as a naive college undergraduate and newly-formed adult. His mistakes are couched in a plotline of exploration and uncharted territory, whereas Madeleine fails at adulthood in so many frustratingly obvious ways.
All of that aside, The Marriage Plot is such a lovely book, especially, I think, when viewed through the lens of literature and a love of reading. Perhaps the reason that this element of the novel really jumped off the page for me was because it is so clearly personal to Eugenides. Madeleine is certainly his foil, and her love of literature is his own, so even the weaker plot elements and character developments with Leonard and Mitchell are buoyed by his authentic connection to Madeleine's reading.