Constance In The Castle Food

Food is nourishing and provides life to many organisms, and the preparation of it has been associated with the role of women in society for centuries, with oppressive consequences. Throughout We Have Always Lived in The Castle, food is a central theme woven into the writing, whether it is obvious or not. For instance, the preservation of food is a major tradition rooted in the history of Blackwood women, thus enabling the self-sustaining nature of Constance and Mary Katherine. Constance cooking and baking for her remaining family serves as a protection in their life and it initiates key interactions and scenes throughout the book. While Constance uses food to comfort her household, Merricat uses it to destroy her. How did Merricat and Constance use food, a maternal and warming substance, to eliminate the patriarchal
Merricat spared her sister by choosing sugar as the delivering agent as it was revealed Constance does not like sugar. “You never used sugar” (130) Merricat mentioned. “No” (130), proclaimed by Constance. “So I put it in the sugar” (130) reveals Merricat; this means that Merricat has a strong, loving bond with her sister that she did not want to lose. Furthermore, their bond led to Constance incriminating herself to protect her sister: “she told the police those people deserved to die” (37), and “she told the police that it was all her fault” (37). Their bond strengthened after this incident and both developed a strong trust for each other; after all, Constance still ate around Merricat even after the poisoning. They both were dependent upon each other, as Constance prepared food for Merricat, and Merricat runs errands in the village that Constance refuses to visit. They often showed a fondness towards each other while living in the kitchen of their destroyed home, and worked together to protect their remaining