Indulgence or Devotion? 'Babette's Feast' Offers Both

Rather than setting Babette’s culinary art and the villagers’ religious commitments in conflict, as if the ambitions of the spirit now succumb to the desires of the flesh, the play links the townspeople’s devotion and Babette’s art as necessary companions. They are more alive for receiving the gift, and Babette is the more beautiful for being allowed her generosity.