Reading Early Modern Food: A Review Article

Abstract

Whilst historians have led the way in the study of early modern food, literary critics are increasingly alert to the importance of this relatively new topic. This essay begins by tracing the context of early modern food studies by exploring what has been written by historians and what has been written on related subjects, such as the body and the role of women as producers and sellers of food. The essay charts important studies of food in early modern drama, poetry and prose by canonical and less well-known authors from the period before ascertaining where we are today in early modern literary food studies and what we might expect from future criticism on the topic.