“Butter” as a Part of Common Diet: An Aspect from the Literary Texts in Early Modem England

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of “butter” in early modem England jfrom the viewpoint that it was regarded and frequently described as being common in the diet of the age. Due to a lack of records, the food history of the era in question (the 16th to the mid-17th centuries) does not seem to have been fully explored, in terms of popular culture. By focusing on one specific food - in this case, butter - the present study aims to discover its significance in contemporary literature as well as in material culture. One can be fairly certain that “butter” in early modem England was used not only on the table but also as a part of rhetorical speech, or as a metaphor.