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RESEARCH PRODUCT

The Meaning of Food in the Novel "Peony in Love"

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The aim of the paper is to show universal and culture-specific meanings of food, taking into consideration different roles nutrition plays in human life. The complicated nature of relations between people and their meals is illustrated with examples from literature, based on the book Peony in Love by Asian American contemporary author Lisa See. The book makes a good example of the subject of food and culture as the main plot is connected with traditional Chinese opera that influenced young women to die of starvation because of love sickness. The Peony Pavilion (Chinese: 牡丹亭; pinyin: Mǔdān tíng) is a play written by Tang Xianzu in the Ming Dynasty and first performed in 1598, but its message is still valid today.