ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Ophelia gives fennel, symbol of flattery, to King Claudius. She also gives him columbine for ingratitude and infidelity. Rue, for sorrow, she gives to Gertrude; she also offers Gertrude daisy, for springtime and love, and says she lost her own violets, which represent sweetness, when her father died.

Detailed explanation-2: -Claudius and Gertrude set Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two boyhood friends of Hamlet, to spy on him. When Hamlet himself enters, he is confronted first by Polonius and then by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, whom he quickly identifies as Claudius’s spies. As they talk, a company of touring actors enters.

Detailed explanation-3: -Ophelia uses flowers as symbols of her deep sorrow and grief. She is very upset because her father, Polonius, has just been killed by Hamlet. Being a sensitive and intelligent young woman, Ophelia needs to express herself, and she does so by passing out flowers to the court in her seeming mad state of mind.

Detailed explanation-4: -Columbines were for ingratitude, adultery, faithlessness, or deceived lovers. (The fennel and columbine may have been for Gertrude, she had been unfaithful. And/or they may have been for Claudius because he committed adultery with Gertrude. ) Rue is a symbol for regret and repentance and sorrow.

Detailed explanation-5: -Ophelia gives Fennel and Columbine to King Claudius. By giving Fennel and Columbine to Claudius, she gives a very strong message because Fennel is the symbol of flattery and Columbine is the symbol of deceived lovers. Being a deceived lover, means you are indulge in adultery and faithlessness.