Flower Motifs: Difference between revisions
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''The Briar and the Rose.''|"The Briar and the Rose", '''Tom Waits'''}}
Flowers are one of the most popular [[
In the West, the popularity of flowers as motifs is probably rooted (no pun intended) in floriography - a Victorian practice where particular types of flowers meant different things. A woman rejecting a suitor might send him yellow roses; a man leaving for overseas might give his girlfriend forget-me-nots. Most people remember that red roses mean "I love you," but floriography itself has been largely forgotten. It occasionally turns up in literature, but since it takes time to explain the meanings of flowers, requiring someone to be [[Mr. Exposition]] if the flower is obscure, it's largely omitted from television and film. Additionally, gardening as a hobby has declined in modern times: many see the garden not as a place for flowers, but as an additional "room", more likely to feature a swimming pool or a swing set than a flower bed.
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== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]],'' the characters couldn't go anywhere without coming across a rose. The rings that signified the duelists sported a rose crest, Ohtori's gate had a huge rose design on top of it, each duelist had a rose of their signature color as a target when they fought, and a group of antagonists were called the Black Rose duelists, to name but a few. In the movie, they up the ante, and the famous "dance in the rose garden" shows an Ohtori ''drowning'' in roses. Just to drive the point home, the [[Meaningful Name]]s backed up the imagery: "Utena" and "Anthy" mean "calyx" and "flower," respectively.
** The [[
***
* ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura]]'' had a field day with this. Looking at the characters' [[Theme Naming|flower names]], their favorite flowers, and the flowers that show up around them give big clues to their characters. For example, Sonomi's favorite flower is nadeshiko; she adored Sakura's mother, whose name was Nadeshiko.
** ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura]]'''s creator, the manga group CLAMP, is also largely associated with falling cherry blossoms (sakura), so much that it's a [[Signature Style]].
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** The anime's first ending uses red spider lilies liberally through the credits while focusing on Kagome. The red spider lily symbolises reincarnation and resurrection themes, and Kagome's soul is Kikyou's reincarnated soul.
* ''[[SHUFFLE!]]'' Nearly every character, including the men, are named after flowers.
* [[Honoo no Alpen Rose]], as the title says. The Alpine Rose is both [http://www.rogersroses.com/gallery/displayBlock.asp?bid=217&suppid=14 the flower]{{Dead link}} and a song that {{spoiler|is among the lead female's few memories of her past.}} The [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/alpine_rose/v01/c001/8.html first page of the manga] nicely explains the symbolism.
{{quote|"The Alpine rose is a red flower, also known as the Rose of the Highlands. Its flower can resist both snow and storms, and has soothed those who live in the mountains. However, it also means a warning, danger and greatness..."}}
* ''[[Wedding Peach]]'' gives the Love Angels' flowers meanings, but other than Momoko<ref>= Peach = "Long-life, generosity, and bridal hope" (jp)</ref> they don't match well with either European or Japanese languages:
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* Many British murder mysteries make reference to flowers - Belladonna (deadly nightshade) is a favorite as a poison. ''Rosemary and Thyme'' takes this to the next level though. Not only are they named after herbs, but the contents of their garden often provide a clue to the murder...or at least serve as inspiration for the [[An Aesop|aesop]] at the end.
** [[Agatha Christie]] explicitly used floriography as major clues in some of her [[Miss Marple]] mysteries.
* ''[[Little Women]]'': While Laurie and Amy are taking a walk through a rose garden, Laurie gets pricked by a red rose he tried to pick while thinking of Jo, whom he last saw when she turned down his marriage proposal. Amy then gives him a thorn-free white rose. Laurie instantly thinks of the [[
* Parodied in the ''[[Discworld]]'' book ''Nanny Ogg's Cookbook'', where after discussing how a man was once sued for having an obscene garden, Nanny Ogg gives a list of "pretty flowers and their meanings". The list itself is not present, however, because Nanny Ogg being who she is, the publisher inserts a note declaring they've yanked the list for being overly suggestive. (Though [[Fridge Logic|considering]] ALL flowers are plant reproductive organs, Nanny may have had a point...)
** Note that the above is actually [[Truth in Television]]: the founder of the Hellfire Club, Sir Francis Dashwood, landscaped his garden in such a way that, from the church on the hill, it would look like a naked woman.
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* [[Purple Hibiscus]] is an experimental strain of the (normally red) plant, which stands for change, hope and freedom; everything the main characters are struggling for.
* A Victoriana-obsessed decker from the first [[Shadowrun]] anthology named his cat Tansy, then set her beside his deck each time he began a hacking mission, because the wild tansy is a declaration of war in floriography.
* A short story in ''[[A Simple Survey]]'' is about assigning a meaning to a new kind of flower... except that the "flower" in question is an alien [[Man-Eating Plant]]. Said [[Man-Eating Plant]] is sentient, capable of understanding human language, and reacts to any meanings it doesn't like by attempting to eat the offender. After several attempts, they settle on {{spoiler|"view me as I am"}}.
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== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''The Phoenix Reqiuem'', [http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php?page=359 Anya receives a purple hyacinth], which means [https://web.archive.org/web/20131103090706/http://marriage.about.com/od/flowers/a/flowermean_2.htm "I am sorry"].
* In ''[[Lackadaisy]]'', the protagonists work at the Lackadaisy speakeasy (using the Little Daisy café as a front); their rivals are the Marigold gang (fronted by Hotel Maribel), who wear marigolds in their lapels. Daisy and marigold motifs often show up in standalone artwork of the two gangs.
* [[Wooden Rose]] [http://www.woodenrosecomic.com/comic/chapter2/37.html Gathering bluebells in the forest]
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* The [[Wars of the Roses]].
* ''Tulipomania'', famous as one of the world's first financial speculation roller-coasters (which ended in the inevitable crash). To this day, Holland is still associated with tulips.
* Japanese culture places a high value on the beauty of [[Cherry Blossoms]]. So much so that when one Japanese immigrant arrived in America she found eating cherry pie an odd experience, because (at least in her time) in Japan, cherries are only bred for blossoms.
** Anyone who lives in Portland, Oregon can see the point. There are streets that are so well planted with cherries that when the blossoms fall they look like snow.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Motifs]]
[[Category:Flower Motifs]]▼
[[Category:Floral Tropes]]
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