Again with the acting...

So, just as Hamlet has a play within a play, so does Love's Labour's Lost. However, this time it is different. It is no longer glorified, but utterly ridiculed.

I find it funny that Ferdinand's crew makes fun of the actors in the play. It is just like the Princess and her ladies were making fun of Ferdinand and his men for trying to act like Russians. I see it as an un-official play followed by a formal play - and both are ridiculed. The Princess of France said about the men's attempt to play them:

   "So shall we stay, mocking intended game, and they, well mock'd depart away with shame."


Then, in the middle of the play with the Worthies, Dumain and Longaville ridicule Don Adriano de Armado's acting when Don Armando says:


   "I am that flower,-"


And Dumain and Longaville respond with:

   "That mint."
   "That columbine."


This is really meant in mockery as mint was thought of as the lowliest of plants, always to be tread on, and columbine represented foolishness as was also mentioned in Hamlet and in one of my previous posts.

I just find it funny that those who were playing are now making fun of those in the play. Maybe it makes them feel better about their own acts of foolishness by making fun of another's.

For you, and you, and you...

So, we're back to Hamlet! Joy of joys, let's go for it.

Anyone who has read Hamlet before (and probably several of you who haven't) knows that after Polonius is killed, Ophelia goes crazy. Literally crazy. However, sometimes there is method in Shakespeare's madness (as stated by my blog). So, does Ophelia actually make sense in her madness, or is it just a random babble that seemingly happens to touch on some truth?

I think the greatest way to tell is in her flower choices. I know many other people have analyzed her floral arrangements, but here's mine:

First, she gives rosemary...

Rosemary:

- symbolizes: remembrance & fidelity

- used greatly in funeral wreaths to remember those who have passed on

- also used greatly in wedding bouquets to remind couples of their vows to each other

- interesting rumor: if you touch a lover with a sprig of rosemary, they will always be faithful

Then Ophelia hands out pansies. 

Pansies:

- symbolizes: thoughts (you occupy my thoughts) & merriment

- one of the main ingredients in Celtic love potions

In "A Midsummer Night's Dream" it is shown as a love potion when "with pansy juice on her eyes, sleeping Titania fell in love with the first creature she saw when she awoke."

Next, Ophelia hands out fennel and columbine.

Fennel:

- symbolizes: foolishness & flattery 

- once fennel is picked, it wilts very quickly 

- quote: "Sow fennel, sow sorrow"

Columbine:

- symbolizes: male adultery & foolishness, ingratitude & thanklessness 

- shape of the flower imitates a Jester's cap and bells, showing the foolishness

Next, Ophelia hands out the rue.

Rue: 

- symbolized: genuine repentance & everlasting suffering

- rue has a very bitter taste

- was the major cause for abortion in its day

-tied with adultery in that it shows repentance of transgressions for women

Then, Ophelia skips over the daisy.

Daisies: 

-symbolized: innocence, purity, & forsaken love

- it is also tied to the keeping of a secret; "I'll never tell"

- Celtic legend: 

Daisies come from the spirits of children who died at birth. To cheer up the parents of these children, God sprinkled the flowers over all the Earth. This is why daisies stand for innocence.

Then, Ophelia mentions that all the violets are withered.

Violets: 

- symbolized: modesty, virtue, affection, faithfulness, & fidelity 

- used as a charm against evil because of its purity

- also shows a returning of love

      So, was Ophelia truly mad? Was she simply pretending to have lost her wits just as had Hamlet had? Was she doing this so she could confront the King and Queen without the fear of them killing her for treason? 

Is there method in her madness?