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 d...