The Language of Ophelia’s Flowers

The Language of Ophelia’s Flowers

Millais, John. Ophelia. 1852. Oil on Canvas. Tate Britain, London. Wikimedia Commons.

There is a willow grows askant the brook,
That shows his
hoar leaves in the glassy stream.
Therewith fantastic garlands did she make
Of
crowflowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do
dead-men’s-fingers call them.

Hamlet, Act IV Scene VII

Botanical symbology was significantly utilized in the plays of Shakespeare and the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites. With this shared reverence for the language of flowers and their truthful observation of nature, the pairing of mediums, as exemplified in the painting above, formed timeless visuals of universal themes. Heeding Ruskin’s tenets of aesthetic, “to reject nothingselect nothing, and scorn nothing” in nature, the Pre-Raphaelites depicted Shakespeare’s words in painstaking detail (Barnard 4). And no painting better exemplifies this fidelity to the biodiversity of Shakespearean settings than John Everett Millais’ Ophelia.

Ophelia’s “Coronet Weeds”

In 1851, Millais set out for Hogsmill River in search of an embankment to lay the scene of Ophelia’s drowning (Riggs). Through the lens of Pre-Raphaelite ideology, Millais began to breathe life into the haunting scene of Ophelia’s demise as he applied the structural and textural details of the English riverside to canvas. From the gnarled bole and boughs of the crack willow to the algae flowing like the hair of a water nymph, Millais beautifully encapsulated the floral symbology of Hamlet as understood in the Victorian Era. In addition, he included several significantly symbolical flowers, such as the red poppy and forget-me-nots, to intermix with the botanical references in Gertrude’s monologue.

Detail Image of Sedge

In order to understand the complete story Millais has told through the trailing “weedy trophies,” I have analyzed the significance of the flowers during both the Victorian and Elizabethan Era. The appropriateness of investigating the significance of botany during the Elizabethan Era is not just in relation to the context of Shakespeare’s life, but also the role Queen Elizabeth I played in the publication of books on botany and gardening (Quealy 12).

Along with the confirmed botanical symbology made in both Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Millais’ Ophelia, I have included many of my own surmises on the various floral arrangements floating on the eddy that have yet to be explored.

Below, you will find a list of 28 botanical references I have analyzed in alphabetical order:

Asphodel

1.


Victorian Meaning of Asphodel: My regrets follow you to the grave.

My first attempt at identification begins with the White-Flowered Asphodel (Asphodelus albus) that I believe to be depicted in Ophelia’s right hand. Asphodel, also known as “king’s spear,” was brought to England in 1551 and was thought to be the “food of the dead,” thus it was planted throughout cemeteries (Graves 328; Belanger 278). Though the traditional use and Victorian meaning of asphodel strongly supports my conjecture, I am convinced that it was also used as a literary allusion, which I will further elaborate on in a subsequent blog.

The white spear-like flower most closely resembles the Asphodel.

This perennial’s association with death was first recorded in the oral lore of Ancient Greece (Reece 392), which is revealed in the asphodel meadows of the underworld as depicted in The Odyssey:

“And Hermes the Healer led them on, down the dank, moldering paths and past the Ocean’s streams they went and past the White Rock and the Sun’s Western Gates and past the Land of Dreams, and soon they reached the fields of asphodel where the dead, the burnt-out wraiths of mortals make their home.”

Homer, The Odyssey

“. . . the ghost of clean-heeled Achilles marched away with long steps over the meadow of asphodel.”

Homer, The Odyssey

Here are just a few more references to further convince you of the powerful symbology of the asphodel:

“The dead are made to eat asphodels about the Elysian meadows.”

Sir Thomas Browne, Urn-Burial (1653)

“Others in Elysian valleys dwell, Resting weary limbs at last on beds of asphodel.”

Alfred Tennyson, Lotos-Eaters (1832)

“The tints of the green carpet deepened; and when, one by one, the white daisies shrank away, there sprang up in place of them, ten by ten of the ruby-red asphodel.”

Edgar Allen Poe, Eleonora (1850)

“I had buried my romance in a bed of asphodel.”

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey (1890)

“There asphodels are scattered through the night, like ghosts of young beseeching hands.”

William Faulkner (scribed with drawings he made in 1919)

“And he who wore the crown of asphodels,

Descending, at my door began to knock.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Two Angels

“I was cheered when I came first to know that there were flowers also in hell.”

William Carlos Williams, Asphodel, That Greeny Flower (1955)

Baby Blue Eyes

The Language of Ophelia’s Flowers

2.


Possible Baby Blue Eye

Though this dainty California native wildflower was readily available for garden cultivation in England, I have yet to locate a credible source with the Victorian symbology of Nemophila. Nevertheless, I am still determined to make a claim that the small blue flower clearly represents a Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila menziesii).

Briar Rose

3.


Victorian Meaning of Dog Rose: Pleasure & Pain

The wild roses Millais refers to as dog roses are interchangeable with the name Briar Rose (Rosa carina), a symbolic rose often utilized in depictions of the folktale Little Briar Rose, also known as Sleeping Beauty.

In Elizabethan times, this wild rose, originally spelled as “brier” often referred to any wild plant with thorny stems, like the blackberry bramble, or sharp elements, like the Hawthorn (Ellacombe 35).

Buttercup

The Language of Ophelia’s Flowers

4.


Victorian Meaning of Crowfoot & Buttercup: Ingratitude

Stream Water Crowfoot blooming amongst the conglomerate of algae

I am in full agreement with the Plant Curator‘s identification of the lower right flowers as Stream Water Crowfoot (Ranunculus penicillatus), blooming amongst the conglomerate of algae. According to the Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora, this relative of the buttercup (Rancunculus), is found in “flowing rivers and streams,” which may mean they are present along the embankment of the Hogsmill River. Though Victorians referred to the buttercup as a crow-flower, Elizabethans identified the Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi) as the crow-flower, which I discuss in length later (Ellacombe 64).

The Language of Ophelia’s Flowers

5.


Victorian Meaning of Cabbage Rose: Ambassador of love

“The Rose is a beautiful flower, but it always fills me with sorrow by reminding me of my sins, for which the Earth was doomed to bear thorns.”

Saint Basil

The two roses depicted by Millais seem to resemble the form of the Cabbage Rose (Rosa centifolia), also known as the Provence Rose, which were introduced to England prior to Shakespearean times (Ellacombe 266). In addition, John Gerard’s Herball, a botany book utilized by Shakespeare, refers to the Provence Rose as the Holland Rose, also known as the Cabbage Rose (Quealy 202).

“With two provincial roses on my razed shoes.”

Hamlet, Act III Scene II
Rose bud and stem outlining her cheek

The delicate rose buds that lay by her cheek and dress represent youth, love and beauty. However, some roses were used as a treatment for madness and symbolized youthful death (Ellacombe 264).

The literary meaning of the rose is most eloquently described by Ellacombe:

” . . . the Rose is simply the emblem of all that is loveliest and brightest and most beautiful upon earth, yet always with the underlying sentiment that even the brightest has its dark side, as the Rose has its thorns; that the worthiest objects of our early love are at the very best but short-lived; that the most beautiful has on it the doom of decay and death.”

Henry Ellacombe, The Plant-Lore and Garden-Craft of Shakespeare
Cabbage Rose floating alongside Ophelia

“Till our scale turn the beam. O rose of May,
Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!
O heavens, is ’t possible a young maid’s wits
Should be as mortal as an old man’s life?”

 Hamlet, Act IV Scene V (According to Gerard’s Herball, the rose of May is also known as the Cannell Rose)

The Language of Ophelia’s Flowers

6.


Victorian Meaning of Columbine: Folly

The three-parted leaves of this poisonous flower came to symbolize the Holy Trinity, while the dove-like cluster of spurs represented the Holy Spirit (Thomas and Faircloth 84). However, the Columbines (most likely Aguilegia vulgaris, or the Common Columbine) Ophelia gives out symbolized Gertrude’s infidelity and her engagement in cuckoldry (Thomas and Faircloth 85).

There’s fennel for you, and columbines.—There’s rue for you, and here’s some for me. We may call it “herb of grace” o’ Sundays.—Oh, 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.

Hamlet, Act IV Scene V

The columbine flower does not seem to be present in Millais’s Ophelia.

7.


Victorian Meaning of Daisy: Innocence

Daisies next to red poppy

The bloom of the English Daisy (Bellis perennis), a native wildflower of Britain, is short-lived. Consequently, daisies appropriately symbolize sadness, grief and death (Quealy 192). Shakespeare also plays on the daisy’s association with child-like innocence as Ophelia weaves them into her own garland.

“There with fantastic garlands did she come
Of crowflowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples.”

Hamlet, Act IV Scene VII

The Language of Ophelia’s Flowers

8.


Victorian Meaning of Daffodil: Regard

“The Daffodillies fill their cup with tears.”

John Milton, Lycidas
Possibly a Daffodil cutting though Hyacinth

I believe the brown sheath on the green stem near Ophelia’s right palm is most representative of the stem of a Daffodil.

The Wild Daffodil (Narcissus pseudo-Narissis) was readily found in the fields of England during both Shakespeare’s and Millais’s time (Ellacombe 74) . In addition, the Pre-Raphaelites highly revered Keats, Shelley, Wordsworth and Milton, all of whom wrote on the form of Daffodils (Ellacombe 72).

“In its general expression the Poet’s Narcissus seems a type of maiden purity and beauty, yet warmed by a love-breathing fragrance; and yet what innocence in the large soft eye, which few can rival amongst the whole tribe of flowers.”

Dr. Frobes Watson’s description of the poetic form of the Daffodil (Ellacombe 75)

It may a far reach on my part as the flower cup is indistinguishable, but would it not be a romantic symbol on Millais’s part?

9.


Victorian Meaning of Carnation: Atlas! for my poor heart

Victorian Meaning of Variegated Pink: Refusal

Victorian Meaning of Gillyflower: Bonds of affection

I believe the variegated, red and purple flowers coming to be flowers belonging to the dianthus family.

I have found no other confirmation of this, but I am completely convinced that I see Carnations and Pinks (flowers of the genus Dianthus) amongst the floating bouquets. Both carnations and pinks were common during the Elizabethan era as they were a remedy for heart pain. During the Victorian Era, carnations, also known as Gillivors and Gilly-tiesels, were heavily cultivated and utilized in many Pre-Raphaelite paintings as symbol of “a woman’s pure love” (Mancoff 82).

Detail artwork of Dianthus. Inglis, Esther. Octonaries Upon the Vanitie and Inconstancie of the World. 1601, Folger Shakespeare Library.

Though Dianthus are not referenced in Hamlet, I believe that Millais was fully aware of this flowers symbolic significance to Shakespeare. Based on the abundance of carnation in Shakespeare’s plays, these flowers may have become readily available in florist shops and exhibited in English gardens in the 1600s (Ellacombe 44). Additionally, the carnation was one of several flowers fo be associated with Queen Elizabeth I (Quealy 190).

Bundle of flowers possibly containing a light colored carnation

It is noteworthy that carnations were also a popular component of Roman, Greek and Athenian garlands (Ellacombe 43).

10.


Victorian Meaning of Fennel: Worthy of all praise; Strength

Though I do not believe it is featured in Millais’s painting, Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a significant botanical symbol in Hamlet.

“There’s fennel for you, and columbines.”

Hamlet, Act IV Scene V

This sacred herb is used as an “emblem of flattery” in literature and art. So, to give fennel is to flatter the recipient (Ellacombe 91).

11.


Victorian Language of Forget-Me-Nots: True love; Forget me not

As the name suggests, this flower represents the hopes of everlasting remembrance. As the Plant Curator suggests, these are most likely Water Forget-Me- Nots (Myosotis scorpioides) on either side of the stream.

Detail of Water Forget-Me-Nots

12.


Victorian Meaning of Hyacinth: Sport, Game, Play

Possible Hyacinth in Ophelia’s right palm

I believe that the undefined purple flowers, similar to the Common Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis), may be present due to the confusion regarding Shakespeare’s “crow-flowers.” However, I believe the hyacinth’s appearance is more symbolic. I will provide a subsequent post to further explain my conjecture in the image to the right.

13.


Victorian Meaning of Iris: Message

Based on the stem’s texture and tonal coloration, I believe that Millais has depicted both the English Iris (Iris latifolia) and the Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus). In further support of the yellow flag iris identification, it is known to be commonly found along a water source (Ellacombe 101).

Possible Yellow Flag Iris and English Iris

As the Victorian meaning implies, the iris was named after the messenger of the Olympians, who is traditionally believed to assist young girls into their afterlife after irises have been placed on their grave. The Pre-Raphaelites also used the iris to symbolize “lost love and silent grief” (Mancoff 16). In addition, according to French mythology, purple irises were believed to have turned from gold to purple as a symbol of the mourning of Jesus (Mancoff 34).

14.


Victorian Meaning of Jasmine: Amiability

Possibly White Jasmine above the poppy

If I am correct in identifying the pink underside of the flowers in the detail image to the right as White Jasmine (Jasminum polyanthum), then this will not be Millais’s first time painting jasmine. As Millais depicted in The Bridesmaid (1851), brides of the Victorian Era wore jasmine as a symbol of “wedded bliss” (Mancoff 26). Though I have yet to determine the symbolic meaning that could have been meant by Millais in Ophelia, I hope to update this as my studies continue.

15.


Victorian Meaning of Marigold: Grief

Marigolds on death-beds blowing.”

Shakespeare, Two Noble Kinsmen

Yet another unconfirmed identification is the yellow flower to the left of the Red Poppy. I am confident that this is the Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris).

“The wild Marsh Marigold shines like fire in swamps and hollows gray.”

Lord Alfred Tennyson, The May Queen
Marsh Marigolds on the far left

The marigold is known as the flower of the dead in Mexico and a symbolic funeral offering in Ancient Greece (Foley 111). Similarly, through art and literature, the marigold has been associated with “death, funerals, resurrection, and hope” (Thomas and Faircloth 222).

“The purple violets and marigolds

Shall, as a carpet, hang upon thy grave

While summer days do last.”

Shakespeare, Pericles, Prince of Tyre

16.


Victorian Meaning of Burning Nettle: Slander

Detail image of Stinging Nettle

The leaves of the Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) are present between the willow branches of Millais’s Ophelia. Though this plant’s qualities may be foreboding of pain (i.e. Urtica is derived from uro, meaning “to burn”), there is a fascinating history regarding the use of nettles as durable thread and as a food source (Ellacombe 187). As appetizing as “nettle porridge” may sound, in both Millais’s painting and Shakespeare’s literary reference, nettles represent pain and slander.

17.


Victorian Language of Pansies: Love in Vain

Traditional herbalists credited the Pansy, also known as Heart’s Ease, as an anodyne for heart pain (Mancoff 78). The pansies depicted in Millais’s painting resemble the coloring and form of a Wild Pansy (Viola tricolor).

It is thought that the name “pansy” is derived from the French word pensées, meaning thoughts (Ellacombe 207).

“And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts.”

Hamlet, Act IV Scene V

Shakespeare’s often referred to this flower by its clearly symbolic name, Love-in-idleness.

“Before milk-white, now purple with love’s wounds

And maidens call it Love-in-Idleness.”

Shakespeare, Midsummers Night’s Dream

18.


Victorian Meaning of Flos Adonis: Painful Recollections

According to Tate Gallery, the small red flower seems to reflect a blooming Pheasant’s Eye (Adonis annua), also known as the Adonis’ Flower. Unfortunately, they do not go into further detail regarding the reasoning behind their identification. My studies on the mythos and symbology of the Pheasant’s Eye continues.

Possible Pheasant’s Eye to the left of Pansies

The Adonis’ Flower was named after Adonis, the mortal lover of Aphrodite. While weeping over Adonis’s dying body, Aphrodite’s tears and Adonis’s blood formed the anemone flower. Though the Adonis’ Flower we know today is not an anemone, they are both members of the Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae).

19.


Victorian Meaning of Purple Loosestrife: Pretension

Purple Loosestrife

Millais portrayed the native plant purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) in reference to Gertrude’s description of the “long purples” featured in Ophelia’s drowning. However, there has been a debate regarding the correct flower that Shakespeare was referring to. Ellacombe defended the popular theory that the “long purples” were most likely any of the three common purple orchids found in England’s meadows: the green-winged orchid (Orchis morio), early marsh-orchid (Dactylorhiza incarnata) and early purple orchid (Orchis maculata) (Ellacombe 157). He further argued that their appendage-like pale roots fit Long Purple’s alternative name: Dead Men’s Fingers.

“Our cold maids do Dead Men’s Fingers call them.”

Hamlet, Act IV Scene VII

For Millais, the confusion of this reference may have been circumstantial as long purples were referred to as the purple loosestrife found in the marshes of the English countryside during the Victorian Era. For example, John Clare writes of the “tufty spikes” that are characteristic of loosestrife, rather than meadow orchids (Ellacombe 158).

“Gay Long-purples with its tufty spike;

he’d wade o’e shoes to reach it in the dyke.”

John Clare, Village Minstrel (1821)

Similarly, Millais’s setting is reminiscent of the botanical positioning in Lord Alfred Tennyson’s poem A Dirge:

“Round thee blow, self-pleached deep,

Bramble Roses, faint and pale,

And Long Purples of the dale.”

Lord Alfred Tennyson , A Dirge (1830)

A modern identification of Shakespeare’s “Dead Men’s Fingers” is given later.

20.


Victorian Meaning of Ragged Robin: Wit

The Crow-Flower, or the Ragged Robin, was a popular Elizabethan garland component. In Herball, General Historie of Plants, Gerad notes how the Ragged Robin was used for “‘garlands and crowns, and to deck up gardens'” (Ellacombe 64). Furthermore, there is a significant amount of evidence showing that Shakespeare often referred to guidance of Gerad’s botany book.

“There with fantastic garlands did she come
Of crowflowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples.”

Hamlet, Act IV Scene VII

In Scotland, crow-flowers are actually referred to as wild hyacinth. However, as Ellacombe points out, Ophelia’s garland consists of summer flowering plants, whereas the Hyacinth blooms in the Spring. Additionally, the ragged robin is a wetland perennial.

21.


Victorian Meaning of Red Poppy: Death 

Detail Image of Red Poppy

The Red Poppy was a popular symbol amongst the Pre-Raphaelites to foreshow death of the subject or to represent deep sleep.

According to Roman Mythology, the goddess of fields and mother of Persephone, Ceres, adorned poppies to commemorate her daughter during winter (Mancoff 62).

22.


Victorian Meaning of Rosemary: Remembrance

“Grow for two ends, it matter not at all,
Be’t for my bridall or my buriall”

Robert Herrick on the use of Rosemary

Though not depicted in Millais’s Ophelia, during Shakespeare’s time, rosemary was a highly appreciated herb and was commonly used in both weddings and funerals (Ellacombe 273.

“As for Rosemarine, I lett it run alle over my garden walls, not only because my bees love its but because tis the herb sacred to remembrance, and therefore to friendship; whence a sprig of it hath a dumb language that maketh it the chose emblem at our funeral wakes and in our buriall grounds.”

Sir Thomas More on his great admiration of Rosemary

“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember.”

Hamlet, Act IV Scene V

23.


Victorian Meaning of Rue: Repentance

“There’s rue for you, and here’s some for me — we may call it herb of grace o’ Sundays. Oh, you must wear your rue with a difference.”

Hamlet, Act IV Scene V

The bitterness of Rue, or Herb of Grace, is said to the reasoning behind its association with the phrase “to rue” or to feel remorse for something. Thus, rue came to symbolize the act of repenting (Ellacombe, 1896).

24.


Victorian Meaning of Saffron Crocus: Mirth

Though I have no other account of this, I believe the purple flower with three long stamens in the detail image below to be Saffron Crocus. This depiction seems to be lacking the usual three crimson stigmata, but the grasslike leaves further support my attempt at botanical identification. I choose to believe that the stigmata were already harvested for seasoning or dye.

Possibly Saffron Crocus amongst this floating bouquet

In addition, Millais may have been familiar with the symbolic usage of this plant in many of Shakespeare’s plays: Winter’s Tale, Comedy of Errors, Tempest and All’s Well That Ends Well.

25.


Victorian Meaning of Violet: Faithfulness

From chastity to youthful death, Violets are laden with symbology (Tate). Their association with early death may be reflective of their short-lived flowering season that ends “before the full beauty of summer had come,” as shown in Henry Vaughan’s poem Daphnis (Ellacombe 333).

“So Violets, so doth the primrose fall

At once the spring’s pride and its funeral,

Such easy sweets get off still in their prime,
And stay not here, to wear the soil of Time;
While courser Flow’rs (which none would miss, if past;
To scorching Summers, and cold Autumns last.”

Henry Vaughan, Daphnis

Or when Laertes’ hopes that violets grow from Ophelia’s grave:

“Lay her i’ the earth,

And from her fair and unpolluted flesh

May Violets spring!”

Hamlet, Act V Scene I

Shakespeare introduces the language of violets as Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, compares the fragility and transiency of a violet’s bloom to the falsity and brevity of Hamlet’s affection towards her:

“For Hamlet and the trifling of his favor,
Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood,
A violet in the youth of primy nature,
Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting,
The perfume and suppliance of a minute.
No more.”

Hamlet, Act I Scene III

Though Ophelia states that there are no violets to give, Millais’s Ophelia wears a necklace of what appears to be English Violets (Viola odorata).

“I would give you some Violets,

but they wither all when my father died.”

Hamlet, Act IV Scene V

26.


Victorian Meaning of Cuckoo Plant: Ardor

Though Ellacombe credits Shakespeare’s “long purples” reference to the purple orchids found in the local woodlands of England, the author of Flowers from Stratford-on-Avon (1852), Paul Jerrard, argues that Shakespeare undoubtedly is referring to the Wild Arum (Arum maculatum) (Ellacombe 157). Even the Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Dr. Levi Fox, was in agreement with Jerrard’s conjecture (Quealy 198).

I believe this assumption can hold up merely based off the the rotting finger coloration and symbolic insinuation of the genital-like spadix (stem of flowers) emerging from the spathe (leaf-like feature of the Araceae family). Consequently, the Wild Arum was also referred to as Lords-and-Ladies. This botanical symbology may align with theory that the floral drowning scene was also emblematic of the “deflowering” of Ophelia.

“That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do “dead men’s fingers” call them.”

Hamlet, Act IV Scene VII

27.


Victorian Meaning of Fuller’s Teasel: Misanthropy

Detail Image of Teasels

Wild Teasels (Dipsacus fullonum), or fuller’s teasel, were most likely present along the Hogsmill River where Millais painted Ophelia’s scene. I do not believe this had a purely symbolic reason for being present, rather the incorporation of the wild teasels were a part of keeping true to nature.

28.


Victorian Meaning of Willow: Mourning: Forsaken Love

The willow that Millais depicts and that Gertrude refers to in Hamlet is most likely the Crack Willow (Salix fragilis). The Weeping Willow that often accompanies Ophelia in other paintings was not actually present in England during the Elizabethan Era. Fortunately for Millais, the stream embankments contained a cracked willow fitted with “pendant boughs.”

“There is a willow grows aslant a brook
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream.”

Hamlet, Act IV Scene VII
Detail Image of the Crack Willow

Resources

References

Barnard, George. Drawing from Nature: A Series of Progressive Instructions in Sketching, to Which Are Appended Lectures on Art Delivered at Rugby School. Forgotten Books, 2017.

Belanger, Michelle. Walking the Twilight Path: A Gothic Book of the Dead.

Ellacombe, Henry. The Plant-Lore and Garden-Craft of Shakespeare. London, W. Satchell and Co, 1896.

Foley, Daniel. Herbs for Use and for Delight: An Anthology from the Herbarist. Dover Publications, 1974.

Graves, Robert. The Common Asphodel: Collected Essays on Poetry, 1922-1949. Haskell House, 1970.

Greenway, Kate. The Language of Flowers. London, 1884.

Mancoff, Debra. The Pre-Raphaelite Language of Flowers. Prestel, 2012.

Millais, John. The Life and Letters of Sir John Everett Millais. London, Methuen & Co., 1899.

Ranunculus penicillatus.” Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora.

Riggs, Terry. “Ophelia.” Tate, Feb. 1998.

Species list for Millais’ Ophelia anyone?.” Plant Curator, 15 April 2014.

Thomas, Vivan and Nicki Faircloth. Shakespeare’s Plants and Gardens: A Dictionary. The Arden Shakespeare, 2016.

Quealy, Gerit. Botanical Shakespeare: An Illustrated Compendium of All the Flowers, Fruits, Herbs, Trees, Seeds, and Grasses Cited by the World’s Greatest Playwright. New York, Harper Collins Publishers, 2017.



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