English 12
Rosemary Dibben
(707) 965-6759, rdibben@puc.edu
 English Department
PUC Preparatory School
McKibbin Hall, 1 Angwin Ave.
Angwin, CA 94508
Office Hours: Periods 2, 8 & 9. Other times by appointment.

"Babette's Feast" Study/Discussion Questions

  1. Why do Martine and Philippa agree to Babette's idea to celebrate their dad's anniversary? What dilemmas/conflicts does this simple agreement then create in the story?

  2. How does the "worldliness vs. godliness" dichotomy feature in "Babette's Feast"?

  3. How is the "puritan vs. sensuous" conflict played out in the story?

  4. A common human characteristic is "fear of the unknown." How do the "Babette's Feast" characters exhibit "fear of the unknown"? How does this fear affect the plot?

  5. Mary Ann Fatula reminds us in her essay, "Sooner or later each of us is brought to a personal turning point at which we are compelled to 'make out the balance sheet' of our lives." How do turning points feature in "Babette's Feast"? Which character/s is/are making out his/their own "balance sheet[s]"? Explain.

  6. What is the background of Babette's surprising appearance in Berlevaag? (Background resources for "Babette's Feast": publisher's note for Unruly Women of Paris: Images of the Commune, notes for a talk on "The Paris Commune," the Wikipedia entries on the Paris Commune, General Galliffet, and Petroleuses.) Explain the irony of her background and its effect on the story.

  7. Discuss Babette as an artist. What is the purpose of her art? What is its effect?

  8. How comfortable do you feel with the idea that a feast can be redemptive? How/why is Babette's feast redemptive?

  9. At the end of the story, Babette quotes Achille Papin: "'It is terrible and unbearable to an artist . . . to be encouraged to do, to be applauded for doing, his second best. . . . Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me leave to do my utmost!'" Explain.

  10. What do you think is the moral of "Babette's Feast"?

  11. In Valerie O'Connell's essay, "Babette's Feast" is discussed as "an elaborate allegory relating to Christianity" and as "a religious allegory." Discuss the story as a Christian allegory.

  12. Babette "bestows her gift of an elaborate French dinner on people unwilling to receive it and unable to estimate its worth." (Schwand, P. "God Loves a Joke: Babette and Vocation.") Why?

  13. Pamela Schwandt refers to "the celestial joke being played upon one and all, which amounts to this: their immediate expectations are overturned and their deepest longings are fulfilled." How is this like salvation?