Homework Assignment Two: Character

Continuing the series of writing exercises inspired by Susan Breen’s The Fiction Class, today we are moving on to character.  For more information on the book and this series of posts, please check out the original book review here.

Character: Think of a person from history who intrigues you.  Napoleon?  Cleopatra?  Martin Luther King?  Write a two- to three-page description of that person eating a meal.  What would s/he eat?  How would s/he eat?  What would s/he be thinking about as s/he ate?  Would someone be sharing the meal with him or her?  What would they talk about?

Dinner with Louis XIV

We (the Royal We) are the Sun King.  Our dinner table is an incredibly decadent place, full of multi-course meals, elaborate place settings, a slew of guests ranging from courtesans to royal family members, political advisers to heads of other nation-states – although none, of course, as great and powerful as France.  We serve only the best because we are the best.  Our table features only the finest fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, cheese, breads and pastries, soups and consommés, and course after course of dessert – all arranged and decorated to suit our royal tastes.  And our royal whims.

Gilded spun-sugar cages hold baby birds – pheasants, duck, capons, and chicken, as well as slightly more unusual birds like sparrows or larks – cooked in their entirety and presented to look like they were still alive.  We enjoy artfully presented food.  Soups are creamy, rich, hearty bisques or clear broths made of meat or fish.  Our breads and pastries are the finest in all of France, made to perfection so that they melt in the mouth.  And our desserts, well, our desserts are second to none.  Mile-high confections of sugar, whipped cream, and custard, presented plate after plate until we are full.

And our royal wine cellars are, of course, the envy of all of Christendom.  Our table features only the finest.  Carafe after carafe of wine – Bordeaux, Chardonnays, and Champagne – and glass after glass of port or sherry are available to any and all who are privileged to dine with us.

Each meal is an artistic feast, prepared by a vast team of our underlings – chefs, under-chefs, sous-chefs, and assistants.  They last for hours.  And of course we are served by a host of servants, each responsible for a different aspect of plating and arranging these artistic creations to ensure we are happy – visually, olfactorily, and of course, gastronomically.  At our table, no guest ever waits between courses or is delayed in their dining gratification.  To make us wait would be unthinkable.  And dangerous.  Our servants are clothed in the finest, most elaborate livery, handsome or pretty as gender (or our royal tastes) dictate.  We would stand for no less.

Each and every course is painstakingly thought out, crafted, and delivered – and heaven help any servant who offends us or our guests with a dining experience that is less than perfect.  Our tables groan under the weight of each and every perfectly prepared meal.  We understand that our populace does not experience such largesse regularly.  That is as it should be.  We are the king, after all.  They are not.  And we must have the best.  It is our royal obligation to heaven and our subjects to demonstrate our greatness and superiority in all things – and our table is one such thing.

We do not understand why the peasants complain and will not hear of any disparaging remarks about our royal way of life.  We are, as we have said, the king.  Do not make us repeat ourselves again.  We take what we want, as is our right.  Do we not spend our life’s blood engaging in political maneuvers to ensure the stability and greatness of France?  Do we not have an obligation under heaven to lead and to rule?  What would these peasants have us do – starve?   How on earth can we expect to hold our heads high and play on the world-stage if we do not maximize every opportunity, master all we can survey, stand brave and proud and tall before the world?  And if we take what we can, what we want – well, what of it?  There are those who are born to serve and those who are born to rule.  We do not make the rules, we simply embody them.

*In the book, Arabella’s students write in 12-point, double-spaced style, which is what I will be doing to measure length.  Just so you know.  🙂