Part 6: Ophelia's Long Purples

In Act 4, scene 7, Gertrude mentions a particular purple flower that Ophelia includes in the garlands she hangs on the willow:

“...long purples,
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them.” (4.7.193-196) [1]

The Queen wishes to avoid saying the “grosser name” that “liberal shepherds” have for a purple flower that looks like “dead men’s fingers”: What might the grosser name be?

Not too hard to guess: phallus flowers, purple penises. These “long purples” are not the only flower Ophelia includes in her “fantastic garlands,” but they are the only flowers Gertrude uses 19 words to describe instead of one.

In a 1970 essay, J.G. McManaway [2] wrote of how Ophelia in her madness resembles Jephthah’s daughter “bewailing” her virginity, or in other words, mourning the fact that she would soon die childless, never having known the joys of being a spouse and mother.

But Ophelia’s garlands with “long purples” are more festive than Jephthah’s daughter “bewailing” her virginity. What equivalent might there be in our own time for these long purples?

Since at least the 1984 film, “Bachelor Party,” there have been films, TV episodes, and other media that include condoms used as air balloons or water balloons. Many forms of phallic fun.

The time is “out of joint” (Hamlet, 1.5.210), and Ophelia is acting as if she is decorating the willow tree for a bachelorette party or bridal shower.

We might ask: If Gertrude is covering up knowledge of Ophelia’s suicide, as some claim, then why wouldn’t she omit mention of these “long purples, / That liberal shepherds give a grosser name”? Gertrude’s sense of decorum keeps her from naming them, yet she includes these details of Ophelia’s garlands, details that seem incongruous with a young woman that the “churlish priest” assumes was probably a suicide.

Gertrude says that, in the water, Ophelia “chanted snatches of old lauds, / As one incapable of her own distress” (4.7.202-203). She either seems unaware of her impending death, or if aware of it, unafraid. The priest says,

We should profane the service of the dead
To sing a requiem and such rest to her
As to peace-parted souls. (5.1.245-247)

But according to Gertrude’s description, Ophelia was very much a “peace-parted” soul who felt much less inhibited about including long purples in her garlands than the Queen did in uttering their “grosser name.”

It’s true that many drowning deaths in Shakespeare’s lifetime were suspected to be suicides [3], and yet the play suggests that the priest may be bearing false witness against Ophelia (breaking one of the ten commandments) to assume she was probably a suicide, rather than that it was a mystery and he should withhold his judgment, or that she was mad and not responsible for her actions.

Contrary to much popular and scholarly belief, it’s a mystery and a controversy, not a clear-cut suicide.


https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/07/part-6-ophelias-long-purples.html
 

~~~~~~~~~~~
After I wrote this blog post, I came across an alternative way of viewing Ophelia's long purples, and Gertrude's reluctance to speak the more bawdy name of the flowers:

Katharine Goodland notes,
"...Gertrude deliberately points out that Ophelia's language is the language of women. As Nona Fienberg observes, she "reject[s] shepherds' names for long purples, and ... insert[s] the maiden's name, 'dead men's fingers.' Gertrude here privileges women's work and women's words, insisting on the alternative text she presents on Ophelia's behalf (139)."

I have cited Goodland before and have great respect for her work and the accomplishment of the book from which it is taken. This is an important angle to consider.

But it has perhaps at least two limitations I would note for now:

First, there are two Shakespeare plays in which shepherdesses appear:

As you Like It (Phoebe), and
A Winter's Tale (Perdita).
So it is possible that the liberal shepherds who have a bawdy name for the long purples might include shepherdesses who are similarly liberal in their use of the bawdy name.

Secondly, Goodland and Fienberg seem to ignore the pejorative adjective in "cold maids":

"But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them.” (4.7.196)

Why cold? Why prefer the phrase that *cold* maids prefer? Why insist that, to honor women's work, Gertrude must prefer the language of "cold maids" and perhaps ignore that of shepherdesses?

Goodland's chapter is full of rich insights, but on this point it seems weak.

For the above quote see Katharine Goodland,
ch. 7, "The Gendered Poetics of Tragedy in Shakespeare's Hamlet, 177-199,
from the book,
_Female Mourning and Tragedy in Medieval and Renaissance English Drama: From the Raising of Lazarus to King Lear_
2005, Routledge

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOTES:

[1] All references to Hamlet are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online version: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/hamlet/entire-play/

[2] Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Spring, 1970), pp. 198-200 (3 pages).
Also see https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2020/12/jg-mcmanaway-ophelia-jephthas-daughter.html

[3] Two posts by The Shakespeare Blog regarding drowning deaths that may have inspired the story line in Hamlet about Ophelia’s drowning:
https://theshakespeareblog.com/2011/05/shakespeare%E2%80%99s-avon-act-2-the-inspiration-for-ophelia/ https://theshakespeareblog.com/2011/05/shakespeare%E2%80%99s-avon-act-2-the-inspiration-for-ophelia/

http://theshakespeareblog.com/2011/06/more-ophelia-contenders-jane-shaxspere-v-katherine-hamlet-and-margaret-clopton/

Recommended by Catherine Loomis, including information on the drowning death of Jane Shakespeare, 2 years old, possibly William Shakespeare’s cousin:
https://tudoraccidents.history.ox.ac.uk/?page_id=263

Recommended by Paul Arblaster, a YouTube video on accidental death in England:
https://youtu.be/DyVaRqBX1SI

From Shakespeare’s Globe:
“In Shakespeare’s England, drowning was one of the most common forms of accidental death, particularly for women; despite the ambiguity surrounding such deaths, however, it was common for a guilty verdict (of suicide) to be returned since the state stood to make money from the family of the deceased.”
https://medium.com/@shakespearesglobe/remembering-ophelia-suicide-in-shakespeares-england-fbb444ef7740

Images: Author photos, July 2023. The flower in the photograph is purple prairie clover, which grows in Minnesota; I have no way of knowing whether this was what Shakespeare had in mind when he wrote those lines for Gertrude, but I assume there were various possibilities.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INDEX OF OPHELIA POSTS:
My 2023 series on Ophelia, and earlier Ophelia posts:

https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/10/index-of-ophelia-posts-2023-series-and.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YOU CAN SUPPORT ME on a one-time "tip" basis on Ko-Fi:
https://ko-fi.com/pauladrianfried

IF YOU WOULD PREFER to support me on a REGULAR basis,
you may do so on Ko-Fi, or here on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/PaulAdrianFried
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.

Below is a link to a list of some of my top posts (“greatest hits”), including a description of my book project (last item on the list):

https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-20-hamlet-bible-posts.html

I post every week, so please visit as often as you like and consider FOLLOWING.
To find the FOLLOW button, go to the home page: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
From there you can click FOLLOW and see options.