Babbette's Good Friday

Mixing two ingredients can often produce the same result. Whether it's because one author influenced the other; or some other case entirely, it's quite apparent that in literature two very different stories can have very stark, yet different similarities. The stories "Babette's Feast" and "Short Friday" are remarkably similar, despite being two different stories altogether.

Babette's feast introduces us to a world where two devout Puritan sisters are almost completely sheltered off from the world, and Short Friday is a markedly detailed story about a Jewish husband and wife. AND THESE TWO ARE SIMILAR!? PLOT TWIST!

First off, both plots circle around two religious families, who are very much afraid; and or reluctant of either going against their beliefs, or disobeying a standard of rules. Despite the stories revolving around two completely different religious orders (Judaism vs. Christianty), their devotion to God remains the same. In Short Friday, Shimul-Liebele and his wife; Shoshe, are very reluctant on disobeying the rules of the Jewish sabbath. Shimul-Liebele often prays very heartily every morning, never misses a sermon and is even relucatant on walking fast from the synagogue. In Babette's Feast, the two Puritan sisters; Martine and Phillipe, are named after two important religious figures, abstain from any romance whatsoever; as to the point if they were completely asexual, so as to keep themselves "pure"; they being devout members of an ecclesiastical sect. They almost always pray, Phillipe sings in Church, the sisters and their father are almost completely terrified by Catholics; the sister's father even growing pale upon meeting one. It's a good thing I don't live there, or it'd be fodder for a sitcom this fall on NBC.


Second, the characters feel shame, but in very similar; yet different ways. In Short Friday, after Shimul and his wife "rumble in the jungle", she feels a bit of discomfort; after it's apparent that the two are no longer among us, but not because of what should be the most obvious answer (at first). They did the "stork's duty", without Shimul first caressing her, and he didn't even compose a symphony of the likes of Mozart before experiencing his other half. I mean if you're suddenly dead, and there happens to be a "rule" that one should observe during the Sabbath, then you don't follow it and end up dead, you'd be ashamed that it was solely the heat of the moment that made you "fear the reaper". In this case, Shoshe feels shame because the stove was possibly left on, or if the sabbath meal was removed from the stove, things of little importance once you're dead. I know who I'll be going to for my life insurance policy now, I assure you.

In Babette's Feast, the youngest of the two daughters; Phillipa, is taken up as an "apprentice" to Achille Papin, for her voice is surely a grandiose marvel to behold. Achille, taking himself to kiss the young Phillipa during the second act of Mozart's Don Giovanni, Phillipa feels immediate shame and discomfort (and possibly disgust), urging her father so as she could withdraw from Papin's tutelage. The kiss was a required part of the play, Papin questioning something that the character he so played would have done, and as to why he should take any blame for being the artist he solely is. It's obvious here that Phillipa is so ashamed by her kissing a man, that she should immediately want to abandon anything to do with singing in that regard (theater) despite her doing it so in Church. She's young, has more than likely have little to no experience with a man, and she feels immediate shame and discomfort upon being held in a way "Daddy would do". But she more than likely feels shame because she's part of a devoutly religious order, and not because she "totally got it on". The sisters hardly ever mention any of these romantic endeavors, them having little to no interest in them. In closing, Short Friday is a story that shouts ROMANCE like an overpriced Hallmark card, while Babette's feast could be considered an ode to chastity; and perhaps asexuality.

The final similarity between these two stories is that both carry events that lead to similar conclusions, albeit in different ways. The generals speech at the end of Babette's leads many to embrace the other, many religious brothers and sisters begin to forgive each other for past grievances, and two people finally admit and accept their love for each other. This was almost as if they were given a "second childhood", to start over, as if there was a sudden calm. The two sisters even state that Babette; the titular character of the story will enchant the angels in paradise. Whereas, in Short Friday, being totally intimate with your spouse is A-OK, despite not following the rules of the Jewish Sabbath, which leads to the two being carried away to paradise, despite committing a "wrong", and being killed in a fashion that isn't all that humorous, and related to worship. You didn't follow the rules of the sabbath, so guess what you're dead, but it's totally OK because you're going to paradise, so this story has a happy and calm ending, after all! Both stories ultimately lead to a calm (of some sort), and even have a mention alluding to paradise.