Horticulture And Shakespeare

7 Pages 1869 Words

A predominant image presented in William Shakespeare’s plays is the image of a garden, infested with weeds. Even though the image pervades his works, the symbolic meaning of the garden evolves over the course time. The image becomes a metaphor for the management of human desires as well as the state of affairs of a country and corrupt kingdom. Through examination of Richard II, Hamlet and Othello, the development of the garden transforms from a political allegory to a metaphor for the human body. There is, however, a common theme among the three plays to eliminate the “weeds,” or corrupt forces that destroy or contaminate the garden.
One of the first references of a neglected garden is presented in Richard II as a political allegory for the state of affairs in England. King Richard, an unsatisfactory head of state, is surrounded by advisors who take advantage of him to live a luxurious life in his court. The Richard's mismanagement of England is represented as a “sea-walled garden…full of weeds; her fairest flowers choked up, / Her fruit-trees all unpruned, her hedges ruin’d, / Her knots disorder’d.” His use of the term “seal-walled” echoes John of Gaunt’s speech in Act II, Scene I, in which the nobleman refers to “the silver sea / Which serves it [England] in the office of a wall.” In Gaunt’s speech, he praises the beauty of England but warns Richard of the consequences of leasing the land—a recommendation suggested by his advisors. The garden is an allegory for a mishandled country overpowered by the king’s advisors. The “fair flower choked up” depicts the deadly, consuming power of weeds and how they can destroy a garden if not removed.
Not only does the gardener use the garden as a microcosm of England, but also he uses individual plants to represent the relationships between the king and his advisors: “Go, bind thou up young dangling apricokes / Which, like unruly children, make their sir...