68 pages • 2 hours read
Bonnie GarmusLessons in Chemistry
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Circumscription of Women’s Ambition by the Patriarchy
An important theme explored in the book is the kind of limitations placed upon a woman’s ambitions by patriarchal systems and institutions. The biggest example of this is Elizabeth’s story, and her professional journey in particular sees numerous hurdles throughout the book.
Early in her career, when Elizabeth is a chemist at Hastings, she is reassigned to a low-level study by Donatti, despite the fact that she is the one who spearheaded the group research study she is on; this is followed by Donatti refusing to let her continue with abiogenesis research. Donatti is motivated by his dislike for Elizabeth, as she does not fit the expectations of a typical woman of her time. He takes issue with her being smart and opinionated, and in a calculated attempt to destroy Elizabeth’s self-esteem, Donatti deems her not smart enough.
Despite saying this to Elizabeth’s face, Donatti goes on to secure funding for the Institute vis-a-vis Elizabeth’s work. He lies to Wilson about Elizabeth being a man, then goes on to reappropriate the money for other projects; furthermore, when Elizabeth is later rehired, Donatti assigns her a lab tech position even as steals her research and publishes it as his own. Donatti’s actions indicate that he is not unaware of Elizabeth’s potential and, in fact, views it as a threat to his own performance. Donatti comes to represent the fact that the circumscription of women’s accomplishments could be motivated by insecurity just as much as ignorance or blatant misogyny.
Elizabeth faces similar limitations at KCTV as well, when Lebensmal instructs Walter to make Elizabeth appear “sexy” rather than smart. Elizabeth calls Lebensmal out on this during their meeting, pointing out that Lebensmal wants a show that limits an individual’s capabilities, and specifically that of women, since housewives are the target audience. Elizabeth is not the only character facing such limitations, however. Frask is denied a promotion and made to report to a new hire—a young man—despite having much more experience; Madeline is discouraged from asking intelligent questions or reading advanced literature by Mrs. Mudford; even Avery does not have direct control over her own Foundation, needing Wilson, a man, to handle her affairs for her.
There are happy endings for some of the characters, however. Miss Frask becomes the head of personnel, Mrs. Fillis gets admitted to medical school, and Elizabeth has an article published about her in Vogue in addition to being offered the role of head of chemistry at Hastings. All these instances stand testament to the idea that Garmus puts forth throughout the story: there is no limit to what women could achieve, if they were allowed to explore their potential unfettered.
Sexism and Harassment in the Workplace
Sexism and harassment in the workplace, as experienced by women, forms one of the central themes of the book. Instances of sexual assault form a large aspect of these theme, but the book also explores sexist attitudes towards women in the workplace and their impact on women’s work as well as their interpersonal relationships.
Early in the book, Elizabeth reveals her past encounter with Dr. Meyers. Although Elizabeth managed to fight off Meyers’s assault, she is dismissed by the police and is the only one to suffer consequences after the encounter when her PhD acceptance is rescinded. This is despite the fact that the university is aware of Meyers’s reputation as a lecher; nevertheless, his reputation protects him from his own actions, leaving Elizabeth to experience a double-blow in form of the assault as well as being asked to leave. Elizabeth later discovers that Frask has experienced the exact same thing with her own advisor, preventing her from receiving her PhD in psychology. The fact that both women share such an experience indicates how common such abuses of power by men in authority were at that time. Lebensmal also attempts to assault Elizabeth, but this time justice is served, as he suffers a heart attack and is forced to leave the studio.
Besides sexual assault, the women in the book are also at the receiving end of blatantly sexist attitudes and the resulting discrimination in the workplace. Donatti and Lebensmal both expect women to fit a particular role, and their behavior towards Elizabeth displays their attempts to intimidate her into conforming. Donatti refuses Elizabeth’s request to work on abiogenesis by claiming she is not smart enough, while Lebensmal instructs Walter to make Elizabeth look “sexy” for TV. Donatti and Boryweitz also steal Elizabeth’s work and take credit for themselves; Elizabeth does not publicly contest this because she is sure she will not be taken seriously. Just as Elizabeth loses out on work as a chemist at Hastings, she initially loses out on earnings at Supper at Six, something she realizes when she discovers that she is being paid much less than her male colleagues.
In so many ways, the workplace is dominated by men, and their active refusal to allow women to succeed ends up pitting women against each other. The limited opportunities for success accorded to women means that every other woman is a rival and every successful woman worthy of envy. Frask displays this attitude initially in the book, as she gossips about Elizabeth and treats her unfairly. It is only later in the book that Frask sheds this behavior and the two women bond over their shared past experiences of sexual assault. The deeply entrenched sexism towards women in the workplace is further displayed by Calvin who, despite being an anomaly, still makes the mistake of assuming Elizabeth to be a secretary when they first meet. This displays how deep the conditioning runs and how all people can form unconscious and implicit attitudes and resultant behavior.
Thus, Garmus makes the argument that sexist attitudes regarding women and the workplace are deeply ingrained in the collective psyche of the population. If left unchecked and unquestioned, it may manifest in a range of ways, from seemingly benign misperceptions as displayed by Calvin, to explicitly harmful and trauma-inducing behaviors such as sexual assault.
Reexamining the Meaning of Family
Lessons in Chemistry reexamines the meaning of family. The importance of biological ties within family, the social and moral perceptions that surround the idea of family, and the role of a mother within a family unit, all come under scrutiny in various ways.
The importance of biological ties is first questioned through the exchange of information about their respective backgrounds that Calvin and Elizabeth engage in. Calvin, who has grown up without a family, harbors the idea of family as that which provides stability; his realization that family can, conversely, be the source of distress, is an important one. The questionable importance of blood is further underscored by the fact that both Calvin and Elizabeth come from difficult family backgrounds, and when they choose to be with each other and become a unit, their relationship is especially fulfilling and meaningful. Their decision to not have children, complemented by their adoption of an animal to care for, highlights how unconventional groupings can still form a meaningful family unit. This is emphasized at the end of the book as well, when Elizabeth invites Avery to meet the “whole family” and she lists people who are mostly not related to her by blood: Harriet, Walter, Wakely, and Dr. Mason, besides Madeline and Six-Thirty.
The social concept of marriage as presented in the book is related to morality. The status quo regards family as unquestionably tied to the institution of marriage, in that one must be married to have children. Elizabeth is fired from her job for being pregnant out of wedlock, and Avery is forced to give up her child for the same reason. Family is further thought of as comprising two parents to a child—Mrs. Mudford deeply disapproves of both Elizabeth and Walter for being single parents, despite the fact that they are clearly loving, capable parents to their children. This is despite the fact that Madeline is was born out of wedlock, and Amanda is not Walter’s biological child.
The idea of motherhood is yet another strain of thought examined in the book, in relation to family. At the very outset, Elizabeth declares that she does not want children; when she does accidentally get pregnant, she doubts her capabilities as a mother owing to the fact that she never wanted to become one. It is Dr. Mason who reassures her that a lot of women do not necessarily want to become mothers; though not an extraordinary idea, Dr. Mason’s explicit acknowledgement of this fact is, indeed, extraordinary. Motherhood is also seen to be something natural and inherent to women, though this is questioned by Dr. Mason’s comparison of parenting to rowing. Beside the fact that both take “patience, endurance, strength, and commitment” (165), it also indicates that parenting, like rowing, is something to be worked at, not something one is innately born to do. Elizabeth’s own mother is an example of how not all women are naturally maternal, and Elizabeth’s worries are further assuaged by Harriet who reassures her how normal it is to feel overwhelmed by parenting.
Thus, by consistently displaying examples of how different aspects of family can exist differently than the expectations, Garmus turns these conceptions of family on their head, exposing them to largely be socially constructed, and thus up to each individual to define for themselves.
