Theme Of Violets In Hamlet

She hands out a multitude of different flowers to her brother Laertes, the King Claudius, Queen Gertrude and keeps two for her self. These flowers all represent different meanings, which Debra Mancoff, scholar and author of Victorian Studieshelps uncover. “Ophelia 's offered meanings - rosemary for remembrance, pansies for thought - by matching the other flowers she mentions with traditional symbols: fennel for memory, columbine for folly, rue for mortality, the daisy for her innocence, and the withered violets for her modesty now transformed to shame” (Mancoff). Based on Mancoff’s meaning for each of the flowers, it is clear what Ophelia is trying to portray. She gives her brother the rosemary and the pansies so he would remember and think of her after she drowns to death. Claudius receives the fennel and columbines. The fennel is for the king to remember his sin of killing his brother because Hamlet’s revenge near. Columbines represent folly and they were also given to Claudius because he is foolish for killing the king, marrying his widow and crowning himself king without having any repercussions. Gertrude receives the rue representing mortality, which foreshadows her own death due to drinking from the goblet containing poison meant to kill Claudius. Finally she keeps the daisy and withered violets for herself for she is an innocent, naive girl who is abashed for losing her father to the man who holds her heart.

Ophelia used flowers as a symbol of her deep sorrow and grief. Ophelia was very upset because Hamlet just killed her father, Polonius. She needed a way to express herself, and she did so by passing flowers out to the court in her seeming mad state of mind. Ophelia uses flowers in an indirect way to accuse the King and Queen of the guilt she wants them to feel. She chooses the flowers with the intent to say how she actually feels to the King and the Queen.

Hamlet was deeply in love with the recently departed fair Ophelia, daughter of Polonious, who also sadly is not with us. He loved her much more than he expressed, and it is unfortunate that his inability to express his love for her could have been part of her downfall. Although he treated her scornfully and rudely I know that he loved her more than anyone could imagine. Hamlet, I remember, at the dear Ophelia’s funeral, you told the whole world of your love. “I loved Ophelia. 40 thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love make up my sum,” you said. I cannot help but think that if you had expressed your love for the fair maiden, both her and quite possibly you would still be with us today. He loved his mother, Queen Gertrude. Although he held her in disdain for her hasty marriage to Claudius, who he despised, he still loved her with all his heart

Polonius’s manipulative ways are irreplaceable to Ophelia. “I would give you some violets/ but they withered all when my father died…” (Act IV, Scene V, lines 177-178) Violets are a known symbol of faithfulness; Ophelia feels betrayed that her father has died and left her, and

[Done in] England” (4.3.66). Gertrude with no control over his decisions agrees to everything Claudius suggests about Hamlet’s exile. Gertrude trusts Claudius which allows him to control her in the actions and decisions he makes. The lack of lines Gertrude has throughout the play proves her trust for Claudius proving that she has nothing against what he decides. Similarly, Ophelia is controlled by Polonius, her father. Polonius controls Ophelia due to immaturity and her ignorance of her relationship with Hamlet. “Affection? pooh! you speak like a green girl, / Unsifted in such perilous circumstance, / Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?” (1.3.101-103). Not only Polonius but Laertes, her brother, constantly advise her to avoid Hamlet because he is just counterfeiting love and his intention is to hurt Ophelia:

Her innocence is emphasized when Shakespeare makes a link between Ophelia and flowers, a common symbol of sexual purity. When Polonius is killed Ophelia’s madness develops. She starts carrying and spreading flowers; this is the first connection between Ophelia and flowers in the play. A second link is when Gertrude scatters flowers on her grave. Laertes refers to her as ‘rose of May’ and imagines violets growing from her ‘unpolluted flesh’.

It is widely believed that “Living life without honor is a tragedy bigger than death itself” and this holds true for Hamlet’s Ophelia. Ophelia’s death symbolizes a life spent passively tolerating Hamlet’s manipulations and the restrictions imposed by those around her, while struggling to maintain the last shred of her dignity. Ophelia’s apathetic reaction to her drowning suggests that she never had control of her own life, as she was expected to comply with the expectations of others. Allowing the water to consume her without a fight alludes to Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia as merely a device in his personal agenda. Her apparent suicide denotes a desire to take control of her life for once. Ophelia’s death is, arguably, an honorable one,

Yet to Hamlet, Ophelia is no better than another Gertrude: both are tender of heart but submissive to the will of importunate men, and so are forced into uncharacteristic vices. Both would be other than what they are, and both receive Hamlet’s exhortations

Ophelia can be portrayed as having little power, which is evident in her obedience to her father in 1.3. However, Ophelia's final act is of defiance in her use of flowers to mark the bad qualities of other characters. The symbolism of the flowers is a very feminine way to express that the corruption of Denmark is disguised, much like how the pretty flowers represent something deeper. Ophelia dies a tragic death, but it is unclear whether or not it was suicide, but Shakespeare's imagery depicts her death in a frail beauty, much like the flowers earlier in the act represent qualities such as innocence are

Ophelia loved her brother and he loved and cared for her too. Family was very important to Laertes and his obsession with them is what gets him killed. Ophelia wishes for her brother to focus on his thoughts and faithfulness as they are experiencing the same pain from the loss of their father. Since Polonius’ killer has not yet been revealed, she wants Laertes to find the killer and bring justice for their family. Ophelia continues to sing, “There’s fennel for you, and columbines,” (4.5.180-181). The fennel and columbines are for the king, Claudius. The audience in Shakespeare's time would have understood the first to mean flattery and the second to mean male adultery and foolishness, because once fennel is picked, it wilts quickly, it becomes limp and loose with very little life left in it. The greek word for fennels stems from mariano, meaning to grow thin; she’s playing off of his love for flattery by presenting it first and then the columbines. The columbine can be known as the "emblem of deceived lovers," and unfaithful marriage, and is a symbol of ingratitude and faithlessness. Claudius married Hamlet’s mother after two short months following his own brother’s death. That raises suspicion for a possible love affair occurring before Hamlet Sr.’s passing. Claudius took his own brother’s life just to be king and have power and wealth showing his selfishness and foolish ways. By

Another time Ophelia was important in Hamlet's life was after not seeing Ophelia for a while Hamlet stumbles upon a grave site being dug in the middle of the woods, but at the time he doesn’t know who for. When Hamlet find out that Ophelia is the one that is being put to rest he starts to go crazy again. He says “I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers, if you added all their love together, couldn’t match mine. What are you going to do for her?” ( V, I, pg.12. lines 247-249). Hamlet is basically trying to say that even if they don’t believe him he really did love Ophelia. Gertrude responded by saying, “This is pure insanity. He’ll be like this for a little while” (V, I, pg. 12 lines 247-249). When Gertrude says this she basically means that he has gone crazy before that this is normal he will calm down soon. Therefor Ophelia played a huge role in Hamlet’s life without necessarily being there all of the time.

Unfortunately though, references like this are few and far between in Hamlet. One scene that I found fascinating was in act four, scene five. This is the scene where, apparently mad, Ophelia begins to distribute various flowers. These flowers,

Ophelia, ever since her introduction, has been introduced to be a sweet and sympathetic person, providing the play with emotional moments, but her death was used as a bait and switch by Shakespeare towards audience members who had expected her to change the play’s somber mood to more hopeful one, which in turn makes the play even more tragic. After she had been visited by an apparently crazed Hamlet, she tells Polonius about the visit, prompting him to believe that the young prince is crazy in love, and goes out to tell the king. After it was explained to Claudius, and Hamlet’s former friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern failed to find the underlying cause of his madness, Polonius makes Ophelia approach Hamlet while he and the king hide and monitor his behavior.

All throughout literature and poetry the use of flowers as well as references to gardens have been common for thousands of years. These flowers are so intricately used within the writings that they tend to develop their own form of communication or language. This language that the flowers have begun to establish can be referred to as floriography which can simply be defined as communication through a variety of flowers. William Shakespeare's Hamlet, is a perfect example of the immense amount of flowers that have been used by characters to indirectly communicate their thoughts. In Hamlet, Shakespeare grasped the idea of floriography, and used it to his advantage by creating a strong motif that is centered around flowers as well as  the garden. This motif can be followed throughout the play, as it is used to develop a large amount of characterization. For Shakespeare, many ideas or thoughts couldn’t be directly said character to character, instead they were indirectly addressed through the flowers and garden. This  characterization and unique communication that is established through the garden and flowers is a very crucial aspect of the characters within the play. Shakespeare uses the garden and flower motif throughout Hamlet to contribute to the characterization of Hamlet and Ophelia.

This represents that Gertrude has married a man who is as inferior to Hamlet’s late father as Hamlet is to the great hero of antiquity, Hercules. This revelation indicates an incestuous marriage and Hamlet thinks that it can have no positive outcome, “It is not, nor it cannot come to good” (1.2.163). Near the ending of this session, Hamlet insisted that next time the discussion should revolve around Ophelia and not his mother as he wants to make sure she receives the eternal love he has for her.