Using Food to Understand Art

‘Let the sky rain potatoes!’  -Merry Wives of Windsor

That is my favourite Shakespeare quote. It’s Falstaff, who I enjoy as both a fool and foil.. It is definitely something I would say. And no one believes it’s a Shakespeare quote. Also, nobody  else is going to use yours first.

Sorry, this all starts when we are in middle school and children are considered mature enough to understand olde English and to show them the downside of marrying too young.

You can spend years studying his work, and there are words that haven’t been spoken in hundreds of years and turns of phrase that were invented solely to fit iambic pentameter. Translating words of the past into modern language is one way. Trying to find what we would have heard long ago, to understand it now.

I like to think it can be much easier than that. Instead of searching for the meaning of something different, why don’t we start with what we recognise.  What’s simpler than a potato? Yes, sure they’ve changed over the centuries, but they are still as worshipped and enjoyed as ever. THe commonality of it, I feel, makes it easier to relate to. Start with potatoes, then move to King Lear.

‘Rice-what will this sister of mine do with rice?’ -The Winter’s Tale

This poor Sheppard’s son just wants to get his stuff and go home. His sister is in charge of the sheep shearing festival, and needs tons of items. A whole lot. It all sounds delicious. This leads to bad fortune because of a scoundrel. I also have never found out what she did with the rice.   

‘I had rather live  

With cheese and garlic  in a windmill, far,

Then feed on cates and have him talk to me

In any summer house in Christendom.’  -Henry IV, Part 1

Absolute killer of an insult. I feel Hotspur banging his head on the table after the negotiation with Glendower. Or speaking to him in general. Glendower is so full of himself. Not in the ‘Dad’s had a few and he’s proud of his kid’ kind of way. More like there is a point earlier in the scene where he brings the meeting to a halt detailing how his birth was celebrated by the gods. We all know that guy. Hotspur compares his birth as important as a kitten. Good fun.

My take: 

‘You know. I could talk to the dude, but I’d rather live in a stinky drafty windmill. I assume they’re drafty. With two of the stinkiest foods.’ Cates, by the way, is another word for delicacies. So stuff your Lindor!  We’ve all been there, as true now as when it was written. I feel this.

‘And, most dear actors, eat no onion or garlic,

for we are to utter, and I do not doubt

but to hear them say it is a sweet comedy.’  -A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Actor’s are looking for their super hot friend to show up so they can perform a play for the Duke, leading to some panic. The hot friend shows up, calms everyone down, and tells them to prepare. Listing off what each actor needs to do. The quote is his final point. Once again, stinky food leads down a dire alley of things that are a universal truth. Bad breath will get you nowhere. 

 The strawberry grows underneath the nettle,

And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best

Neighbored by fruit of baser quality;  -Henry V 

This is a really nice metaphor. Canterbury and Ely are discussing the behaviour of the Prince. He used to be a bit of a bastard, but has grown a great deal to their surprise. Ely uses this line to express how the best qualities of a person are sometimes hard to find, but worth looking for.