"There’s fennel for you, and columbines. / There’s rue for you, and here’s some for me; we / may call it herb of grace o' Sundays. You must wear / your rue with a difference. There’s a daisy. I would / give you some violets, but they withered all when / my father died. They say he made a good end" (4.5. 204-209).
The delivering of flowers by Ophelia is sarcastic. Normally, giving flowers would be a nice gesture, but in this situation, the flowers symbolize certain things that actually mock the receivers. The fennel that she gives to Gertrude symbolizes deceit. She is alluding to the fact that she is a liar and does what she wishes to get her way. She then gives a rue to Claudius which symbolizes repentance. She is indirectly telling Claudius to apologize for his sins and everything he has done. The violets are a pleasant looking and smelling flower. By saying that they all withered when her father died, is a way to say that there can no longer be happiness now that her father has been betrayed.
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