Babette's Feast: The Fear of Pleasure

Jennifer:

Photo courtesy of images-amazon.com

The fear of pleasure that exists within some people never ceases to amaze me. Yes, I know. This is a bit ignorant of me to say, especially after everything covered thus far this semester. However, I still find I am bit taken back each time I witness it. In the film, Babette’s Feast, the concept of food as a source of great and even forbidden indulgence is quite prominent. The food eaten by the sisters and the disciples throughout most of the movie consisted of repressed, Protestant food such as dried fish. The purpose of food was just for nourishment and used as a means of survival.

As the film progresses, Babette, the servant that has been with the sisters for 14 years, wins the lottery and insists on preparing a feast for the sisters and the disciples. After a bit of persistence, the sisters agree. The sisters begin to watch as Babette prepares the French ingredients. They appear to be almost stunned when they see the wine. One even says, “Surely, that is not wine!”  Their initial response was to tell the rest of disciples and apologize for “the devil spirits they have exposed them to”.  Once again, we see the direct correlation between indulgence in pleasurable activities and the devil.

They went ahead with the dinner, but they attempted to keep strictly to a code of conduct during the meal. They dressed all in black, black symbolizing the devil. It looked as if they were in mourning. Each time the General would comment on how delicious the food was, the responses would be completely unrelated. They tried earnestly to “remember they lost their taste buds”. However, we watched their merriment increase as the meal progressed. By the end of the meal, they had abandoned all guilt associated with indulging in flavorful, rich foods and enjoyed with great intensity their dinner as a “love affair”.