Feast of Burden: Food, Consumption and Femininity in Nineteenth-century England

Abstract

At the end of the eighteenth century, a remarkable shift occurred in how upper-class women were taught to interact with food. Using conduct manuals and medical advice books, I show how women began to withdraw from the kitchen, taught to ignore the drudgery and burdens of food preparation as inappropriate for their class. This change precipitated a new definition of appropriate feminine behavior. New guidelines identified ladylike behavior with a lack of cooking, with impeccable table manners, and with a willingness to embrace new rituals such as the procession into the dining room. Women had to assume a very different role at dinner, one laden with new ceremonial emphasis. The etiquette surrounding this change demanded a strict adherence that made the display of one’s manners an indication of one’s morality, and the potential for embarrassment became so high that women were taught how to control their food consumption in order to avoid difficult or embarrassing dinner situations.