1. How to Read a Boquet

2. 1. Ophelia in her distraught state, hair streaming down her back, disheveled clothes, singing her senseless ditties or bawdy ballads is a mirror image of Hamlet. Find the lines that describe him thus earlier in the play. Compare them with the description of Ophelia in this scene.
2. Why does the gentle, convent-bred Ophelia in her madness sing such sweet songs?
3. When Laertes sees her now, he calls her "rose of May." What does he mean?

3. 4. In her madness, Ophelia distributes her bouquet to the appropriate people. Explain why her choice is so apt.
Person
Flower
Appropriate because…
Laertes 1.
Claudius 2.
Gertrude

4. 5. Why must Gertrude wear her rue with a difference. 6
5. Why must Gertrude wear her rue with a difference? 6. What significance is there in Ophelia saying, " ... I would give you some violets. but they all withered when my father died .... "? 7. In Act IV, scene 7, Gertrude describes Ophelia's death to Laertes. In climbing too far out on the delicate branches of a willow tree over a brook, Ophelia fell into the water laden with garlands of wild flowers and weeds. Why is the willow tree a symbolic instrument of her death?

5. 8. Explain the significance of each flower/weed in Ophelia’s garland and show how each reflects her life in the play.
Flower
Significance
Relation to Ophelia
a. crowflowers (buttercups)
b. Flowing nettles
c. daisies
d. long purples (early orchids)