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Ophelia's First Flower Analysis

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It is no coincidence that each flower given out has a specific meaning that pertains to each character. Actually, Ophelia never mentions who gets what flower, but one can assume who potentially receives each flower based on Ophelia’s relationship with each character. The first flower, rosemary is likely given to Hamlet, because Ophelia wants Hamlet to remember her or remember their encounters with each other. Ophelia may have given panises to her brother because pansies represent thoughts and remembrance. Due to the fact that, Laertes and Ophelia are siblings, they share many memories together. Ophelia may be implying that she wants Laertes to remember her father. Following the pansies, Ophelia mentions fennel and columbines, which are symbols for unfaithfulness and adultery. …show more content…

Besides Claudius, Ophelia may have given the fennel and columbines to Hamlet because he insulted her and also killed her father, which would mean that is Hamlet unfaithful to Ophelia. Ophelia then mentions rue, which is a symbol for disdain. The rue may be intended for Gertrude to insult her because Gertrude thought Ophelia was insane and Gertrude did not take Ophelia’s words or actions seriously. Rue can also symbolize repentance, “There's rue for you; and here's some for me...” (IV.v.205) because of this Ophelia may take some of the rue for herself because Ophelia may regret her relationship with Hamlet or she may be implying that she is going to kill herself. The next flowers mentioned are violets and they represent faithfulness along with loyalty. Ophelia says that the violets withered away when her father died. Polonius was killed by Hamlet which makes Hamlet unloyal to Ophelia. She cannot give the violets to him or anyone else because there is no faithfulness or loyalty in Elsinore

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