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Early Modern Literary Studies 10.1 (May, 2004) 12.1-5] Review of Chris Meads, Banquets Set Forth: Banqueting in ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-20) |
 | | The versatility of the banquet setting, Mead argues, explains its enduring popularity on the early modern stage because the food, not to mention the rituals of eating and hospitality, added layers of meaning to the drama, establishing a visual shorthand for communicating with the playhouse audience. |
 | | In these works, as well as in staged dramas, the banquet's selection of foods provided clues as to the host's disposition and social status. As the book's examination of stage directions associated with banquet scenes make clear, however, the plays' texts often fail to specify which foods should be presented. |
 | | Early modern recountings of the furnishings at court banquets, along with notations from playhouse records, show that properties ranging from wood to paper might have stood in place of food – which, Meads points out, rarely needs to be ingested in the course of the action. |
| www.shu.ac.uk /emls/10-1/revmeads.htm (816 words) |
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