Period 0 Sambucini, Amanda: Flowers

If Hamlet were to give his mother flowers, they wouldn't represent the nicest and happiest of meanings. Instead, I believe the bouquet would consist of columbines, white roses, ivy, petunias, begonias, cypress, and deadly nightshades. Columbines represent adultery. Hamlet doesn't not approve of his mother's hasty marriage to his uncle and views it almost as adultery/incestuous relationship. White roses can represent remembrance. Hamlet wants his mother to think of his father and not forget about what she's done to his legacy by marrying Claudius. Ivy represents fidelity. Hamlet is very sarcastic throughout the tragedy, so the ivy would be a sarcastic joke. In reality, Hamlet does not view her actions as faithful to his deceased father. Petunias represent resentment and anger. Hamlet does not condone his mother's actions and resentful of her quick marriage after his father's untimely death. Begonias represent dark thoughts and beware. Hamlet knows that Claudius is the one who killed his father and believes he married his mother to obtain the throne as well. The marriage is tainted by dark motives and these flowers are a way to display that. Cypress flowers mean mourning, death, and melancholy. Hamlet would chose these to constantly remind his mother of his father's death. Deadly nightshades are a symbol of falsehood. Hamlet does not view his mother's marriage to his uncle Claudius as pure and for the right intentions. He views it fake and not for the reasons a marriage should be for. Therefore, this bouquet of flowers would be a great representation of how he feels about his mother.

In Act IV, Scene v, Ophelia passes out flowers as a way to express her sorrow, grief, and feelings. This contributes to the garden motif. Throughout the play, references to gardens are the opposite of what people would think of a garden. In Hamlet, gardens are negatively portrayed as ruined, disgusting, and "unweeded." Most of the flowers Ophelia passes out have negative connotations, like columbines (adultery), rue (sorrow), fennel (ingratitude), and so on. These flowers fit in the negative imagery of the garden. Ophelia says she would have given violets "but they withered all when my father died" (Lines 208-209). Judging from these lines, there are no happy flowers that you'd normally plant in a garden.