Symbolism of a Rose

Friday, March 9, 2012                       

Symbolism of a Rose

“Beautiful Rose” submitted by Katrina. Tag: Katrina www.desicomments.com

The topic discussed in class today was “Symbol and Allusion”.  We went on to read about “Rose” in the “Dictionary of Literary Symbols”, by Michael Ferber, which was published in 1999.  There are many symbolisms of a rose, and I would like to discuss one of the passages written by Ferber in this dictionary:

     "Almost any flower can represent a girl, but the rose has always stood for the most beautiful, the most beloved -- in many languages ‘‘Rose’’ remains a popular given name -- and often for one who is notably young, vulnerable, and virginal. Shakespeare’s Laertes, when he sees his sister Ophelia in her madness, cries ‘‘O Rose of May!’’ (Hamlet 4.5.158), bringing out not only her uniqueness but the blighting of her brief life. Othello, on the verge of killing Desdemona, thinks of her as a rose which he is about to pluck (Othello 5.2.13--16); Orsino tells Viola, ‘‘women are as roses, whose fair flower / Being once display’d, doth fall that very hour’’ (12N 2.4.38--39). The French poet Baïf vows, ‘‘I will not force the Rose / Who hides in the bosom / Of a tightly closed bud / The beauty of her flower’’ (‘‘La Rose,’’ in Livre des Passetems II).”

I chose this passage because whenever i think of a rose, i first think of a flower and its beauty.  Women can be compared to a rose because women are generally viewed as delicate and beautiful in their own ways.  In the passage, when Othello thinks of Desemona as a flower he is about to pluck, it really stands out to me.   All women are beautiful in someones eyes.  Therefore we are all roses in a garden and as we reach the end of our lives it is as if we've been plucked from life as if a rose is plucked from a garden.

"Rose." Dictionary of Literary Symbols. Ed. Michael Ferber. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge, 1999. 172-177. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 7 Mar. 2012.