The Language of Flowers
The Language of Flowers
Let's talk about Floriography, because it's pretty dang cool!
I first learned about Floriography, or the Language of Flowers, back in high school when I first read Hamlet. We were analyzing Ophelia’s mad scene and looking into what each of the flowers she handed out meant. I didn’t know that flowers had meanings (outside of the obvious roses for love) but was intrigued by it. When I was younger, I used to be obsessed with codes. I tried learning runic for a while and was a big fan of the acrostic cipher as well as the simple letter number code but could never really wrap my brain around the other more complicated ones. I liked the idea of a flower code, of hiding meaning in something as simple and innocent looking as a flower. It wasn’t until I re-read Hamlet in university that I started looking into the meaning of other flowers, and looked into when exactly the history of giving flowers meanings began.
Though gaining popularity in the Victorian era, floriography was practiced “for thousands of years in many cultures throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa” with “[m]any flowers deriv[ing] their meaning and symbolism through ancient myths and legends” (Bloom & Wild). One example is the Greek myth of Narcissus who fell in love with his reflection and drowned trying to save himself and was then turned into a daffodil by the gods, or a narcissus, which symbolizes, “requited love, return of affection, sympathy and the coming of spring” (Bloom & Wild). Another example is the violet which was rumoured to have grown in the shadow of Jesus’ cross during the crucifixion. Apparently, the flower “dropped it’s head in sorrow and…has always remained thus,” (Stanley, Father Thomas A.). I found it interesting that so many flowers came from stories and took on a power of their own.
Jessica Roux offers an excellent illustrated guide on Floriography with a brief history of its importance to the Victorian era, which Floriography is “most commonly associated” (Bloom & Wild). Roux’s explains that in a time when people were encouraged to perform proper etiquette and “discouraged open and flagrant displays of emotion,” Floriography offered a coded method of communication (Roux IX). The practice was popular among young women in high society who would send “bouquets as tokens of love or warning, wearing flowers in their hair or tucked into their gowns” and that “[m]any of them created small arrangements of flowers called tussie-mussies or nosegays, by combining a few blooms in a small bouquet,” (Roux IX-X). While the practice of Floriography faded in importance with the beginning of World War I, some echoes still remain like using “roses to convey love…lilies for peace, and mums for condolences” (Roux X).
Shakespeare often used flower imagery in his works, and in Hamlet this imagery is chiefly used with Ophelia. In her mad scene she is shown telling those around her the meaning of flowers and in some productions is shown handing these out to characters:
“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray,
love, remember: and there is pansies. that’s for thoughts…
There’s fennel for you, and columbines: there’s rue
for you; and here’s some for me: we may call it
herb-grace o’ Sundays: O you must wear your rue with
a difference. There’s a daisy: I would give you
some violets, but they withered all when my father
died: they say he made a good end,—”
(Shakespeare, IV, v, 170-172, 175-180).
Flowers are again mentioned with Ophelia by Gertrude when the Queen is explaining how Ophelia died, making note of the “fantastic garlands” of flowers she had around her:
“There with fantastic garlands did she come
Of crowflowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples,”
(Shakespeare, Act IV vii, 166-167).
Each of these flowers has significance, from who Ophelia hands them out to and what meanings they hold as well as the flowers around her when she dies. Ophelia, a character so silent, who does the bulk of her talking in this scene communicates on a deeper level through her flowers. And I want to know what she’s saying.
Instead of making one long post about what each of the flowers means and what their significance is, I’ve decided to make separate posts for each of the flowers mentioned in Hamlet. It gives me a chance to better look at their importance in the context that they’re mentioned as well as what other meanings the flowers may hold.
The Language of Flowers has always fascinated me, and I hope you find this and the next few floral blog posts just as interesting!
Sources:
“Bloom & Wild Flower Delivery: Flowers & Gifts.” Bloom & Wild, https://www.bloomandwild.com/floriography-language-of-flowers-meaning.
Campbell, Jesse. “The Language of Ophelia's Flowers.” The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce, 19 Nov. 2022, https://thepreraphaelitepleasaunce.com/the-language-of-ophelias-flowers/.
“Flower Meanings - All Florists.” All Florists, http://www.allflorists.co.uk/advice_flowerMeanings.asp.
Manty, Kris. “Tussie-Mussies: 10 Things You Didn't Know.” Antique Trader, Antique Trader, 8 Nov. 2022, https://www.antiquetrader.com/collectibles/tussie-mussies-and-collectible-posy-holders.
“Ophelias Flowers - Htsdc.org.” Htsdc.org, https://htsdc.org/wp-content/uploads/Ophelias-Flowers.pdf.
“Ophelia's Flowers.” A Shakespeare Garden, Blogger, https://bardgarden.blogspot.com/2015/01/ophelias-flowers.html.
Roux, Jessica. Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2020.
Stanley, Father Thomas A. “All about Mary.” Garden Way of the Cross : University of Dayton, Ohio, 17 Nov. 2022, https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/g/garden-way-of-the-cross.php.
Shakespeare, William, and Eli Reynolds. Hamlet - the Pelican Shakespeare. Penguin Putnam Inc, 2016.
Team, Inveera. “The Myth behind the Flower: Narcissus.” Chelsea Flowers, 16 Dec. 2019, https://chelseaflowers.co.uk/the-myth-behind-the-flower-narcissus/.
“Viola Odorata.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 June 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_odorata.