Joel asks the class what women want. Money? Love? Fame? Even I'm stumped. Joel tells three-quarters of the class what we-although some of us don't know it ourselves-want. We want choice.

We are trying to figure out what Daphne Marlatt is accomplishing in Ana Historic. What is the novel's purpose? How does Marlatt get her message across with her characters? What is the relationship between her characters?

Either you get married or become a tramp. That's what "the novel" dictates. Which option is more acceptable? Is there a middle ground, a gray alternative?

Ina, Ana's mother, is fully aware of the limitations of women in a patriarchal society, yet does not question its validity. In fact, she internalizes these values and in turn tries to indoctrinate Ana with them. Ana contests her mother's values and argues that her (and Ina's) "stories are hidden from us by fear. Your fear I inherited, mother dear." Sensing her daughter's unconventional view of women, Ina explains that "the truth is, that's woman's lot. it's what you learn to accept…all the ways we don't fit into a man's world." To be a woman is to be "'wrong' from the start, our physiology faulty"; doctors conspire to cause you pain "for being a bad girl (gone bad-infected by your body)."

The only way to redeem yourself from this unfortunate position is to learn the conduct of a proper woman and let fate take its course-either "marriage or death, no other fork in the trail." Become a man's property (marriage), repression, self-control, dress, taking pride in your appearance, and "manners maketh woman, into lady." Ana scorns this attitude and rejects these values: What is the point of "pride on the outside, and on the inside-shame"? Ana argues that women who are "caught between despair at being nothing…and the endless effort to live a lie" turn to the façade of looking smart as evidence enough of proving themselves as not being "just a housewife."

What is "the reach of your [woman's] desire?" Like Marlatt tells us, "read(ing) us into the page ahead."