Rosemary's Baby

The novel is full of scenes in which characters consume various foods or drinks, and this motif is tied to the larger theme of The Performance of Social Identities. Perhaps the most ubiquitous example of this motif is in Rosemary’s daily consumption of the drink Minnie prepares for her. Despite the fact that Rosemary does not enjoy the drink and becomes increasingly suspicious of what it contains, she drinks it for almost the entire novel. Her compliance seems bound up in her desire to be accepted by her neighbors as well as her anxiety about being a healthy, responsible mother. When she finally refuses the drink in the last weeks of her pregnancy, she is symbolically asserting control over herself and her pregnancy. However, this resistance is undermined when she agrees to consume the pills prescribed by Dr. Sapirstein. In this sense, Rosemary cannot escape the social pressure to consume and is herself ultimately consumed by manipulations from external forces.

A significant symbol throughout the novel is a fictional herb called tannis root. Minnie grows tannis root in her kitchen greenhouse and puts it into the charm necklace she gives to Terry and then to Rosemary. It is spongy and greenish brown and has a strong, bitter smell that is difficult to cover up.