Heroes of the Belly: Odysseus and Falstaff

Marcia McDonald, Belmont University

Location

Wedgewood Conference Center, Room 4094

Presentation Type

Presentation

Start Date

30-9-2015 3:00 PM

Description

Dr. McDonald will examine two iconic literary figures whose actions and identity are defined in significant ways by food. Odysseus laments that the needs of the belly trump sorrow and story (and even good judgment); many of the adventures and the long recovery of home require navigating food and rituals of hospitality. The heroic struggle is first against the basic need for food. Falstaff appears to be Odysseus’s opposite: indulgence of the belly is his credo, and avoidance of the battlefield his aim. He plays the belly as a foil to Hal’s aspirations to be a notable king, and not even death undoes his impression. Dr. McDonald uncovers the uncanny way that these apparent opposite characters take us back to questions about how that first human impulse (“feed me”) (ok, maybe it is “hold me” but “feed me” is right up there!) shapes moral and existential choices.

Comments

Convocation Credit: Academic Lecture

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Sep 30th, 3:00 PM

Heroes of the Belly: Odysseus and Falstaff

Wedgewood Conference Center, Room 4094

Dr. McDonald will examine two iconic literary figures whose actions and identity are defined in significant ways by food. Odysseus laments that the needs of the belly trump sorrow and story (and even good judgment); many of the adventures and the long recovery of home require navigating food and rituals of hospitality. The heroic struggle is first against the basic need for food. Falstaff appears to be Odysseus’s opposite: indulgence of the belly is his credo, and avoidance of the battlefield his aim. He plays the belly as a foil to Hal’s aspirations to be a notable king, and not even death undoes his impression. Dr. McDonald uncovers the uncanny way that these apparent opposite characters take us back to questions about how that first human impulse (“feed me”) (ok, maybe it is “hold me” but “feed me” is right up there!) shapes moral and existential choices.