Babette's Feast

“But the true reason for Babette’s presence in the two sisters’ house was to be found further back in time and deeper down in the domain of human hearts.”

This line introduces the two flashback sections that follow and also the idea that Babette’s presence is tied to universal qualities that transcend the story’s specific events. It also implies that fate played some part in bringing Babette to the sisters, as her appearance was made possible by a series of coincidences and world events that could not have been predicted.

“And the fair girls had been brought up to an ideal of heavenly love; they were all filled with it and did not let themselves be touched by the flames of this world.”

Martine and Philippa are devoted to their religion, a fact that contextualizes their actions in regard to their lovers, Loewenhielm and Papin. In her youth, Martine does not speak to or of Loewenhielm , who nevertheless falls in love with her. Instead, she chooses to keep her true feelings to herself in service of God. Likewise, Philippa rejects a career in singing after Papin, a Roman Catholic, kisses her, and she never speaks of him again.

“All the same they had upset the peace of heart of two gentlemen from the great world outside Berlevaag.”

Despite, or perhaps because of, their religious devotion, Martine and Philippa have a profound effect on two worldly men, Loewenhielm and Papin. Both men remember and regret their lost loves years afterward, as Papin expresses in his letter and as Loewenhielm reflects on in his old age. Loewenhielm is so deeply affected he must journey back to Berlevaag to reconcile himself with his decision not to stay with Martine all those years ago. War prevents Papin from returning, but his letter reveals that he has never forgotten Philippa.

“‘Mercy and Truth, dear brethren, have met together,’ said the Dean. ‘Righteousness and Bliss have kissed one another.’ And the young man’s thoughts were with the moment when Lorens and Martine should be kissing each other. He repeated his visit time after time, and each time seemed to himself to grow smaller and more insignificant and contemptible.”

Loewenhielm has romantic feelings for Martine, yet he cannot measure up to the level of religious devotion that she and her father, the Dean, embrace. His thoughts are instead consumed with daydreams of physical pleasure, and as a result, he feels himself shrinking in his own esteem. His inability to cope with his desires weighs on him for 30 years until he returns to Berlevaag to put his mind at rest.

“She would, he said, rise like a star above any diva of the past or present. The Emperor and Empress, the Princes, great ladies and bels esprits of Paris would listen to her, and shed tears. The common people too would worship her, and she would bring consolation and strength to the wronged and oppressed. When she left the Grand Opera upon her master’s arm, the crowd would unharness her horse, and themselves draw her to the Café Anglais, where a magnificent supper awaited her.”

Such is Papin’s description of all the wonderful dreams he has for Philippa. It is also a glimpse of what she gives up, so quickly and easily, after he kisses her. Through this description, Philippa learns a few things about Paris and the Café Anglais and can better appreciate Babette when the French woman reveals herself as a former chef there.

“Babette can cook.”

This line is all that Papin writes about Babette’s culinary skills. He says nothing of the Café Anglais; this is most likely to protect her identity. Since he is a renowned singer, he likely knows Babette through his patronage of her restaurant. Understating Babette’s qualification may also be meant to make her appear less intimidating to the sisters, who would balk at the idea of having a French chef in their home.

“They would find [Babette] in the kitchen, her elbows on the table and her temples on her hands, lost in the study of a heavy black book which they secretly suspected to be a popish prayer-book. Or she would sit immovable on the three-legged kitchen chair, her strong hands in her lap and her dark eyes wide open, as enigmatical and fatal as Pythia upon her tripod. At such moments they realized that Babette was deep, and that in the soundings of her being there were passions, there were memories and longings of which they knew nothing at all.”

With the barriers of language and religion, the sisters cannot comprehend Babette, but they still sense the depth of her soul and personality. In this description of Babette, she is as mysterious, mythical, and dangerous to them as Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi. The comparison to the Ancient Greek figure characterizes Babette’s talents as almost supernatural.

“It was as if the fine and lovable vigor of their father’s personality had been evaporating, the way Hoffman’s anodyne will evaporate when left on the shelf in a bottle without a cork.”

The townspeople in Berlevaag have been left bitter and drifting after the death of their religious leader, the Dean. Analogizing this decline with Hoffman’s anodyne, which is a type of pain reliever that loses its potency if the bottle is left unsealed, underscores the idea that the Dean’s presence only temporarily solved his congregants’ problems. Without him, they come face to face with the same regrets and grudges that plagued them in their youth.

“Babette took a step forward. There was something formidable in the move, like a wave rising. Had she stepped forth like this, in 1871, to plant a red flag on a barricade?”

When Babette requests to cook a French dinner for her mistresses and their friends—and, moreover, pay for it herself—Martine and Philippa protest. But her insistence makes the sisters see her as the pétroleuse that Achilles Papin described in his letter. This description demonstrates how the sisters view her: not as a chef or servant, but as a revolutionary force to which they must submit.

“This low room with its bare floor and scanty furniture was dear to the Dean’s disciples. Outside its windows lay the great world.”

When the sisters’ neighbors arrive for dinner, they take comfort in being in the house that once belonged to their spiritual leader. The house, despite being drab and spare, represents comfort, safety, and sameness. However, Babette’s presence makes it impossible for them to keep out the world, as they have always done; they must confront it and, in doing so, confront themselves.

“He would, he resolved, tonight make up his account with young Lorens Loewenhielm, who had felt himself to be a shy and sorry figure in the house of the Dean, and who in the end had shaken its dust off his ridingboots.”

Despite all his worldly success, Loewenhielm is unhappy. He blames this unhappiness on his younger self, who rejected the life of pious innocence he might have had with Martine. For him, Babette’s feast is not just an anniversary celebration; it represents an opportunity to come to terms with his life choices.

“The convives grew lighter in weight and lighter of heart the more they ate and drank. They no longer needed to remind themselves of their vow. It was, they realized, when man has not only altogether forgotten but has firmly renounced all ideas of food and drink that he eats and drinks in the right spirit.”

When the guests at Babette’s dinner let go of their resolve not to taste or remark on the food, they find that they are able to enjoy it for its own sake. Consequently, they enjoy themselves and begin to feel better, not realizing that they are going against their religious beliefs.

“Grace, brothers, makes no conditions and singles out none of us in particular; grace takes us all to its bosom and proclaims general amnesty. See! That which we have chosen is given us, and that which we have refused is, also and at the same time, granted us. Ay, that which we have rejected is poured upon us abundantly. For mercy and truth have met together, and righteousness and bliss have kissed one another!”

In the speech, Loewenhielm declares the revelation that he has received thanks to the meal. The lesson applies to everyone at the table for it concerns regrets of the past as well as long-held, dogmatic beliefs: Though the guests rejected worldly nourishment, grace now gives it to them in abundance; and though Loewenhielm rejected spiritual nourishment, he now receives it in abundance, as well.