Food in Shakespeare: Early Modern Dietaries and the Plays

by Joan Fitzpatrick

A study of common and exotic food in Shakespeare's plays, this is the first book to explore early modern English dietary literature to better understand the significance of food in Shakespearean drama. "Food in Shakespeare" provides for modern readers and audiences an historically accurate account of the range of, and conflicts between, contemporary ideas that informed the representations of food in the plays. It also focuses on the social and moral implications of familiar and strange foodstuff in Shakespeare's works.This new approach provides substantial fresh readings of "Hamlet", "Macbeth", "As you Like It", "The Winter's Tale", "Henry IV - Parts 1 and 2", "Henry V", "Titus Andronicus", "Coriolanus", "Pericles", "Timon of Athens", and the co-authored "Sir Thomas More".Among the dietaries explored are Andrew Boorde's "A Compendyous Regyment or a Dyetary of Healthe" (1547), William Bullein's "The Gouernement of Healthe" (1595), Thomas Elyot's "The Castle of Helthe" (1595) and Thomas

Genres: Literary Criticism, Food

176 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2007