Gardens and Nature in Shakespeare Gardens and Nature in Shakespeare Author Kate Wrayton Supervising Editor Melissa Walter Editor Kate McPherson Copy Editor Leah Hamby Senior Encoder Leah Hamby Encoding and Metadata LEMDO Team Copyright Holder (Content) Kate McPherson Copyright Holder (XML and interface) University of Victoria Early Modern England EncyclopediaEMEE

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Early Modern England Encyclopedia

By Kate Wrayton, inspired by Michael Best’s Shakespeare’s Life and Times, Internet Shakespeare Editions

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The Meaning of Gardens

In historical and literary contexts in the early modern period, gardens were seen as productive, fertile, or even as erotic spaces. Sometimes, they were associated with forbidden love and adultery, a heritage from Christian concepts of the Garden of Eden. Gardens and the specific plants within them were important to elite members of society, with many searching to find rare plants for their gardens. Some courtiers either hired botanists to cultivate their gardens or would themselves become competent in botany. The social interest in gardens means they feature in drama from the period, and Shakespeare’s depictions of them offer useful tools to convey social values and thematic issues within his plays, including darker nuances such as mortality and corruption in the tragedies and love and its complications in the comedies.

A photograph of a garden with large, square garden beds, paths in between them, and a white central fountain. An example of an Elizabethan garden, located at Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, UK. This garden, which was recreated in 2009, was originally designed by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, for Queen Elizabeth I when he wished to marry her. This is an example of one of the more extravagent gardens of Shakespeare’s time. Photo taken in 2022. Courtesy of David Merrett. CC BY 2.0.
Early Modern Gardens

The gardens of early modern England would appear unfamiliar to the modern-day reader. Victorian naturalist Henry Ellacombe investigated Elizabeth gardens and concluded some of the following similarities: Flower gardens focused on uniformity and formality. The ideal shape for gardens was a square surrounded by a high hedge of holly, hornbeam, or brick wall. Main walkways were enclosed by trees or shrubs, formed into hedges and then shaped into topiary art. Square and surrounded by walkways, compartmentalized gardens were further divided into knots, beds that were arranged into patterns. Gardens featured no lawns, only flower beds and pathways. Gardens were decorated with ornaments such as statues, mazes, rocks, and fountains. Gardens were considered to be a continuation of homes.

According to experts at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, Elizabethan gardens were designed for either function or social applications. Many gardens would be used to produce vegetables, herbs, or fruits. Other gardens were utilized for social purposes or simply for decoration. Gardens of wealthier people were the most formal and often used in the summer for entertainment and social gatherings.

Plants and Flowers of Shakespeare

Henry Ellacombe’s book on plant-lore and garden-lore, available through Project Gutenberg, provides description on both the symbolic meaning behind individual plants and the structure and formation of gardens. Quotations from Shakespeare’s works are also provided with each plant discussed.

While gardens as a whole are utilized by Shakespeare and other playwrights as stages for themes and plots, the specific plants and flowers also hold significance. Individual flowers and plants have their own symbolic meaning that many audience members would have been aware of. The meanings behind these plants and flowers aid in the portrayal of the themes in Shakespeare’s plays, as the specific meanings tie in closely with the characters and themes. Perhaps the most famous example of the symbolic meaning of plants occurs in Hamlet, when the mad Ophelia distributes various herbs and flowers to members of the court as she grieves for her murdered father, Polonius, and laments the loss of her relationship with Hamlet prior to her death in Act 4. For example, she keeps the plant rue for herself, one widely known in the period used to bring about menstruation; many critics point out that this would signify to audiences that Ophelia was with child.

Key Print Sources Ellacombe, Henry Nicholson. The Plant-lore & Garden-craft of Shakespeare. W. Satchell and Co, 1884. Myers, Katherine. <quote>Men as plants increase</quote>: botanical meaning in Shakespeare’s <title level="m">The Winter’s Tale. Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes vol. 40, no. 2, 2020, pp. 171–190. Scott, Charlotte. Introduction. Shakespeare’s Nature: From Cultivation to Culture. Oxford University Press, 2014. Tigner, Amy L. <title level="m">The Winter’s Tale: Gardens and the Marvels of Transformation. English Literary Renaissance vol. 36, no. 1, 2006, pp. 114–134.
Key Online Sources Best, Michael. A <term>knot</term> or design for a garden. Shakespeare’s Life and Times. Internet Shakespeare Editions. University of Victoria. https://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/society/huswifery/gardenknot.html. Accessed 4 Nov. 2023. Candy, Melissa et al. Plants in Shakespeare. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, 22 Apr. 2022. https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/plants-in-shakespeare. Things To See And Do: Elizabethan Garden. English Heritage. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/kenilworth-castle/things-to-do/#section2. Accessed 4 Nov. 2023. Folger Staff. Inside the Elizabethan Garden. The Folger Shakespeare Library, 18 Jun. 2018. https://www.folger.edu/blogs/folger-story/inside-the-elizabethan-garden/. Joynes, Melissa. Gardens in Shakespeare. Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, 9 Sep. 2016. https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/blogs/heritage-open-days-garden-event/. Smith-Bernstein, Isabel. Themes: Ophelia’s Garden. Utah Shakespeare Festival, https://www.bard.org/study-guides/themes-ophelias-garden/.
Image Sources Merrett, David. Elizabethan garden at Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire. 2022. Photograph. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/davehamster/52376998285/in/photostream/.