英文摘要 |
By reading Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors" in the context of the early modern discourse of dining, this essay argues that the play is about the establishment of a social order through the differential stratification of food access and gendered division of labor. Since the success of a dining experience depends on female labor, the social struggle between men is displaced onto the rivalry between women who compete to feed them. The political and economic conflicts between Syracuse and Ephesus and the rivalry between the twins hence are replaced by the marital struggle between Antipholus of Ephesus and Adriana. Instead of addressing the inequalities between the couple, the play then removes the husband from the center of conflict by pitting the wife against other women who, for different reasons, are equally enthusiastic about serving and entertaining him. Once the married men in the play can secure their privilege to dine wherever and whenever they please, the women are reformed to the service of men and relegated to the margin of the dining scene. Once women's power is appropriated, the conflicts between men are also miraculously resolved, and they can finally dine in harmony and even "gossip at this feast." |