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Babette’s Feast | Introduction

Perhaps best known for Out of Africa (1937), Isak Dinesen is the pseudonym of Karen Blixen. Having established her reputation as an author in the 1930s and 1940s, she sought to increase her income in the 1950s by having stories published in American magazines. A number of her stories were featured in Ladies’ Home Journal, including “Babette’s Feast,” which was first published in 1950. A friend had advised her to write about food because Americans love food, so she crafted a story about the transformative powers of a very special feast. In 1958, “Babette’s Feast,” along with other stories published in magazines, was compiled into Anecdotes of Destiny, which was available as of 2004.

As a child, Dinesen suffered the loss of her father by suicide. In the wake of this tragedy, her grandmother and a nearby aunt helped care for the family. Through this experience, Dinesen came to understand and appreciate the ways women take care of loved ones and of each other. As an adult, Dinesen found herself operating a coffee farm in East Africa, an experience that taught her a great deal about contrasting people and cultures. Dinesen’s admirers and scholars often seek parallels between her life and her writing, and in “Babette’s Feast” Dinesen seems to draw on her childhood and adult experiences to give the story depth and authenticity.

Babette’s Feast Summary

Part 1: Two Ladies of Berlevaag
In the town of Berlevaag lived an old man and his two daughters, Martine and Philippa. Martine had been named for Martin Luther, and Philippa (one year younger) had been named for Luther’s friend Philip Melanchton. The man, called the Dean, was the leader of a small Lutheran religious sect with a faithful following in the small town. He and his daughters led a puritanical life, and the daughters were expected to forego marriage for the sake of leading the sect after the Dean’s death.

After the Dean died, the sisters continued his legacy, keeping the church going and ministering to the poor. Now, many years later, the aging churchgoers are bickering and bringing up past wrongs.

Part 2: Martine’s Lover
As young women, Martine and Philippa had been strikingly beautiful. At the age of eighteen, Martine caught the eye of a young lieutenant, Lorens Loewenhielm, who then began visiting the Dean in order to see Martine. Despite his frequent visits, he could never manage to tell her of his feelings for her. Being around her made him feel small and worthless, so on his last visit he boldly kissed her hand and declared that he would never see her again. After this he resolved to forget about her and focus on becoming a great military leader so he would never feel small again.

Part 3: Philippa’s Lover
A year later, when Philippa was eighteen, a visiting opera singer from France heard her sing at church. The singer, Achille Papin, was renowned in Paris and was convinced that young Philippa could be the toast of Paris with her exquisite soprano voice. The Dean agreed to allow Papin to give the girl lessons, but when Papin rehearsed a romantic duet with her, he kissed her. She returned home and asked her father to write a letter telling Papin she would no longer accept instruction from him. Papin felt a deep loss for the world of music, and he barely remembered the kiss.

Part 4: A Letter from Paris
Fifteen years later, a ragged-looking woman appears on the sisters’ doorstep with a letter from Papin. He explains that this woman, Babette Hersant, has fled Paris for her life. He hopes that Martine and Philippa will be kind enough to take her in as a maid, as she has nowhere else to go, having lost her husband and son in an uprising. Babette assures the sisters that she will work as their maid and cook for nothing, and the sisters agree to the arrangement.

Part 5: Still Life
At first, the... » Complete Babette’s Feast Summary