Chapter 6: The Hastings Cafeteria

Summary

• Chapter 6 focuses on the envy that Elizabeth and Calvin's colleagues at Hastings Research Institute feel towards the couple.
• Elizabeth is envied for her beauty and Calvin for his brilliance. Together, they exacerbate the envy because they seem to have an unfairly happy relationship.
• Their happiness is seen as unearned by their colleagues, as it is due to genetics, not hard work.
• Colleagues eavesdrop and judge their daily activities, including their lunch habits of bringing homemade meals to the cafeteria.
• Miss Frask from Personnel expresses discontent with her relationship with Eddie and is jealous of Elizabeth and Calvin's relationship.
• There is gossip about Calvin's Nobel Prize nomination, and a sense of disbelief and resignation among the colleagues.
• Elizabeth and Calvin demonstrate a close, cooperative partnership, discussing work and enjoying homemade brownies at lunch.
• Elizabeth is feeling the pressure to maintain her independence as a chemist and is reluctant to work in Calvin's lab despite living with him.
• There is tension between Elizabeth's practical economic decision to live with Calvin and societal expectations in 1952.
• Elizabeth and Calvin have an arrangement where she cooks for him in exchange for lower rent, but not for him as a "girlfriend duty."
• Elizabeth is determined to be recognized for her own scientific work, not as Calvin's girlfriend.
• There's a backstory about Elizabeth's past and how it has shaped her desire to be independent and recognized for her own merits.
• Elizabeth is requested to attend a friend's wedding as a last-minute bridesmaid, which brings up her discomfort with traditional roles and expectations for women.
• Elizabeth reflects on her difficulty in forming female friendships and the expectations of those friendships.
• Calvin proposes to Elizabeth in the cafeteria, but she refuses, citing professional and personal reasons for not wanting to get married.
• Elizabeth's refusal of Calvin's proposal results in a heated discussion about societal norms and expectations surrounding marriage and the withholding of women's identities.
• Calvin is upset and rescinds his proposal, leading onlookers to believe they are breaking up.
• Calvin realizes that Elizabeth's fear of losing her identity if she gets married is a deep personal belief, one he initially fails to fully understand.
• Elizabeth and Calvin ultimately reconcile when they agree on getting a dog instead of having children, a compromise that restores harmony in their relationship.
• The other employees observe their interaction with envy and disappointment, reflecting how Elizabeth and Calvin's relationship affects those around them.