To plant, or not to plant

Hamlet's bouquet features purple (royalty) rosemary, for remembering his real father, King Hamlet. Anemome (purple) and double bouvardia (pink) show Hamlet's enthusiasm and anticiptation to take vengence. Unfortunately, he was a bit too patient with his revenge, so aster (purple) for patience is included.  Hamlet's bouquet also ironically contains pink king protea, to show he needs to be daring.

Claudius' bouquet contains purple (royalty) columbine, representing adultery and the affair he had with Gertrude. The snapdragon symbolizes desire, such as Claudius' hunger for his brother's throne. The snap dragon is also red for Claudius' rage against both Hamlets and his passion for Gertrude and power. This relates to the lily that means majesty. The lily is white with pink streaks, representing Claudius being "red-handed" for commiting the murder of King Hamlet.

The bouquet of Gertrude features the blue forget-me-not and yellow rue to symbolize how she wasn't faithful to King Hamlet by marrying his brother, Claudius. There is also white chrysanthemum to refer how readers/viewers never really know the truth about Gertrude: if she was an accomplice of King Hamlet's murder or not. The meaning of secret love for the yellow acacia refers to another one of Gertrude's mysteries: whether or not her relationship with Claudius was before or after King Hamlet's death.

The bouquet for Ophelia includes purple stock, red amaryllis, and purple orchids to represent her beauty. Purple anemome refers to how Hamlet abandoned her, attacking her and all women kind. This, and Polonius' death, broke Ophelia's heart. Ophelia's heart was fragile, hence the pink azalea, and soon her mind grew fragile as she became mad.

Works Cited



Karlsen, Kathleen. "Flower Symbolism with Pictures of Flowers and Their Meanings." Symbol Meaning for Hundreds of Symbols & Symbol Resources, n.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2012.

 "Meaning of Flowers" FEELINGS Florist. n.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2012.

"The Meaning Behind Your Flowers." Wedding Blog. n.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2012.
 "Ophelia's Flowers and Their Symbolic Meaning." Index of /. n.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2012.