透過的文藝復興時期的餐飲論述,本論文將討論莎士比亞的《錯中錯》 (The Comedy of Errors) 一劇中之性別分工與餐飲文化之間的關係。儘管敘拉古和以弗所兩城間的政治與商業利益的衝突是戲中其他問題的起源,然而當大安提福夫妻因用餐所引發的衝突成為眾所囑目的焦點,妻子與其他女人(包括酒館的妓女和婆婆)之間的鬥爭因此取代了兩城邦、商人、甚至安提褔兄弟之間的競爭。當戲中的女人為了爭取男人的青睞而使此競爭、互相約制,後者也得以悠閒地置身事外,隨意消費女人在餐桌上的服務。當女人透過彼此層層監督達到自我約制的效果,男人也終於得以奇蹟似地忘卻彼此的衝突與競爭,安心地「在這盛宴上說長道短」。

By reading Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors in the context of the early modem 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 fmal1y dine in harmony and even “gossip at this feast.”