Note to Hamlet, 4.5.175-185: Ophelia's flowers


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Hamlet,
Act 4, Scene 5, lines 175-185
Though Opelia is mad, it seems that her flowers have some kind of mad meaning. Perhaps the rosemary for remembrance and the pansies for thought go to Laertes, who remembers his father and thinks about his sister. The fennel for flattery and the columbines for ingratitude could go to the King. Ophelia has some rue, for sorrow and repentance, and maybe she gives some to the Queen, with the comment that "you must wear your rue with a difference" (4.5.183), because the Queen's sorrow and repentance are not the same as Ophelia's. There's a daisy for dissembling, which could also go to the Queen, or perhaps the King. Finally, there's violets for faithfulness. Ophelia says of them: "I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died: they say he made a good end" (4.5.184-186).

Rosemary
Rosemary
Image Source: Quora


Pansies
Pansies
Image Source: Wikimedia


Fennel


Columbines
Columbines
Image Source: OutsidePride.com


Rue
Rue
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons


Daisy
Daisy
Image Source: The Secret Gardens


Violets