Flower Motifs: Difference between revisions

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The Briar and the Rose.''|"The Briar and the Rose", '''Tom Waits'''}}

 

* ''[[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] 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.

* ''[[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:

** Angel Lily / Yuri <ref>= spider lily = "sweet" (jp) & "purity" (en)</ref> "In the language of flowers the name of the pure lily is special. It means 'It will bloom and grant love'"

* White lilies, a symbol of death and mourning, appear consistently throughout ''[[White Noise]]''.

* In ''[[Kate and Leopold]]'' the Duke of Albany teaches Kate's brother how to send a message to the woman he's interested in.

'''Leopold:''' The orange lily implies extreme hatred. The begonia and lavender danger and suspicion, respectively. Every flower has a meaning, Charles. Might I suggest the amaryllis, which declares the recipient a most splendid beauty. Or the cabbage rose. }}

* This [[Motif]] is used several times in ''[[Don Juan Demarco]]''. When psychiatrist Dr. Mickler is talking the title character out of a suicide attempt, he introduces himself as "Don Octavio de ''Florez''." Coming to work after a night of romancing his wife Marilyn, Dr. Mickler cheerfully plucks tulips from the front of the mental institution and hands them out to the staff. When Mickler first proposes they go to "the Island of Eros", rather than their planned trip to the (antique) Pyramids, Marilyn is reluctant to take such a step: "I like it here, I like my garden." But the Island proves to have a far greater abundance of blooms: "It was like the Garden (of Eden) before the fall." A probable clue to the symbolism is this VO reverie near the movie's beginning:

* In the hysterical Mona Freeman film ''Darling, How Could You!'', a teenage girl attends a melodramatic play in which the villain tries to charm the virtuous heroine with dark red roses. When her mother receives same -- plus an invitation to dinner -- from a family friend, the girl assumes he's after her mom.

 

== Music ==

* The folk song "The Seeds of Love" contains a series of flower motifs:

And it's them I refused all three. }}

** The violet symbolises modesty, the lily chastity, the pink (pink rockrose) courtesy. The protagonist eventually chooses a red rose (romantic love), but unfortunately "gains the willow tree" (sorrow or death) instead.

* The image of the briar and the rose is all over Tom Waits' rock opera ''The Black Rider''. "The Briar and the Rose", quoted at the top of this page symbolizes Wilhelm's realization that he can't marry Käthchen (the rose) without [[Deal with the Devil|help]] from [[Louis Cypher|Pegleg]] (the briar). Then, in one of Pegleg's many [[Villain Song|Villain Songs]], "Flash Pan Hunter", he gloats over his impending victory with the line "The briar is strangling the rose back down." And when {{spoiler|Käthchen dies}}, what's the song? "The Last Rose of Summer Is Gone".

* [[William Shakespeare|Ophelia]] gives the court of Denmark a botany lesson in ''[[Hamlet]]'' IV.v.