"Wouldst thou like the taste of butter" - this phrase comes up in The Witch, as if butter is something hard to come by. Was it more expensive or just a religious taboo? Or nothing at all?

by Aquifex

Title says it all I guess.

At first I thought "hey, a poor family wouldn't waste milk on butter", but from Google I got the idea that actually making the milk into butter was a way of saving money, not a luxury (since it takes longer to spoil). Please correct me if I'm wrong though!

After those searches I came to the conclusion that it must have been a religious taboo of sorts, given that the whole movie is about religious paranoia. Was that the case?

...or was it just bad writing?

Thanks!

albasri

It may be worth noting that The Witch takes place in 17th century New England at a Puritan settlement for context.