The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 11.0360  Friday, 18 February 2000.

From:           Edward Pixley <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Friday, 18 Feb 2000 10:31:02 -0500
Subject: 11.0339 Re: Rice Pudding
Comment:        Re: SHK 11.0339 Re: Rice Pudding

> Seduction by Food
>
> Nora Kreimer is quite right about the fascination of eatables and
> drinkables. In my view, the most arresting attempt by a man to entice a
> woman into his bed is the attempt by Volpone to get closer to Celia. The
> scene is also another example of the discussion of food being
> accompanied by song, as in the delicate carpe diem lyric Come My Celia,
> let us prove...
>
> I know of one Celia who was so affected by the menu offered that she
> fled the rehearsal room only to return for more two days later; she had
> gone to the house of a relative for fish and chips, she said.

Thanks for the reminder of that delicious scene.  I hadn't thought about
it in years.  But, of course, Volpone's exotic seduction (I call to mind
delicacies like estrich eyes and hummingbird wings) seems to be having
more of an aphrodisiac effect on him than it does on Celia, who is, by
nature, of a more heavenly temperament.

Ed Pixley

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