Act 2, Scene 1 Summary

Act Two takes place in Ragueneau's shop "The Cookshop of Poets." In Scene 1, it is early in the morning, and Ragueneau is doing paperwork at his small table in the shop while assistants and other chef's prepare food to sell for the day. Ragueneau is a generous and romantic figure and his chef's apprentices try to please him with special creations which they know will be rewarded.

Ragueneau's wife Lise enters the shop with paper bags for wrapping food for customers and Ragueneau is happy at this until he realizes that the "wrappers" are the torn poetry of his friends and patrons, "The Poets," for whom he provides food in exchange for their verse. He becomes very irate with his wife and calls her names for this indiscretion. She is not moved, however, and only shows contempt for his love of...