Shakespeare's Flowers

Perdita welcomes guests with rosemary and rue for grace and remembrance; Ariel hides in a cowslip's bell. There is magic in the "little western flower" Oberon uses to cast a spell on Titania, and tragedy in Ophelia's garland and Lear's crown of weeds. In the witches' brews and love potions, as symbols of gallantry or faith, as seasoning in homely English kitchens, or as badges for the wars of kings, flowers and herbs were an intimate part of life in Shakespeare's day. Their legends add color and fragrance to his plays and songs. "Shakespeare's Flowers combines fascinating lore and glorious paintings by Anne Ophelia Dowden, to recreate the gardens and meadows of Elizabethan England.