Flowers As A Metaphor For Life
Flowers are one of the most important symbols in the language of flowers, being both prized and a source of beauty. Flowers are often associated with love, romance, and beauty but are also said to represent hope, life, and growth.
It is no secret that people want to remain in the prime of their youth for as long as possible so that they can live a long life with plenty of energy. The best way to do this is through proper nutrition and exercise so it's easy to see why flowers have been seen as a signifier for youthfulness. This article will explore how flowers can be used as a metaphor for human experiences such as love, maturity, power struggles and more.
Flowers have long been associated with romantic love in art, literature and history. Just the mere presence of flowers has been known to be the perfect way to convey a special message or enhance a mood. The special feeling that comes along with giving or receiving flowers is due, in part, to their long history as a symbol for love.
Flowers are also used as metaphors for human growth as people go from being small children, growing into adults and eventually become grandparents. This change can bring about new responsibilities and experiences that radically change a person's life. If we break down the metaphorical use of flowers for life we can see how there are many different stages of human growth throughout our lives.
Love
It is easy to see why flowers have been used as a symbol for love. Love is the most important feeling that humans experience throughout their lives and flowers are a form of beauty that is different from the rest of nature; they are beautiful no matter what their shape or color. Flowers are also known to symbolize hope, which is something that people will strive for throughout their lives. It's easy to see how flowers make such a common appearance in many works of art as they were an important part of romanticism and romantic poetry in the 18th century.
Maturity
Another stage in human life where flowers make an appearance is when we are maturing into adulthood. Maturity is an important part of growing up as it gets people ready to take on other responsibilities in life. As we mature we will want to know more about the world around us and come into contact with ideas that we wouldn't have before. Maturity also helps people begin to grow out of certain childish habits and learn how to cope with the general stresses in life.
Power Struggles
One way that flowers have been used throughout literature as a metaphor for maturity has to do with power struggles between people. Power struggles are rarely easy as they often involve some form of conflict, whether it be physical or mental, over something that is desired by both parties. Even just the presence of a flower can be the thing that causes the conflict to begin.
Another example of how power struggles are symbolized by flowers is when someone who is maturing into adulthood feels as though they should be in control of their life. This can often bring about tension between a parent and a child, which has been shown in novels like The Great Gatsby .
Human Life Cycle
Another way to look at how the human life cycle has been symbolized by flowers is by looking at all stages associated with it. There are many different symbols that have been used over time in literature which seek to describe every stage of human life.
For example, the passage below is from the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and talks about how youth is symbolized by flowers. The passage reads "But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief That thou her maid art far more fair than she" (Shakespeare 537-541). In this passage, Romeo compares Juliet to a flower since she is so bright and beautiful in his eyes. This also shows that youth can be short lived since it was swallowed up like a flower being eaten by a lamprey.
A more metaphorical use of flowers for happiness can be found in the ballad "As I went to St. Ives" by John Clare. The passage reads "What though the summer's lease has all too short a date, Yet will he find me still a-growing young; My head with flowers and garlands is bedecked And the birds are my turtledoves that sing when they fold their wings" (Clare 161). Clare uses flowers to represent youth because they will always remain beautiful despite ageing.
Another way that flowers are used as a metaphor for human life cycles is when people are going through their first stages as children. This is when they are young and naive and have a big imagination as other children often know that this is the best time to be a child. Children are innocent and never want to leave their childhood behind so there are many references to flowers in stories that deal with this topic.
The last source I will use when talking about how the human life cycle has been symbolized by flowers is a novel called The Awakening by Kate Chopin. In this novel the main character, Edna, goes through a series of changes that lead her to realize that her life doesn't look like it did before. This leads her to leave behind what she thought was a perfect life when she was younger. The passage reads "She felt a desire to see her children, to be with them, and watch them growing up" (Chopin 47). In this novel flowers are used as a symbol for time passing by as the children grow up without their mother. This is an example of how flowers have been used in relationship to aging and maturity.
Flowers have been used in many different ways throughout history so that they can symbolize many different things. In the essay I mentioned earlier, the author goes into detail about how flowers have been used through out history.
The first use of flowers that the author talks about is their importance in romanticism and poetry in the 18th century. As I mentioned earlier, this is when flowers became very popular in literature so that they could be used as metaphors for love. This was true of many works of great philosophers such as John Milton and Percy Bysshe Shelley who wrote poems that were full of metaphor.
The next source in which I will discuss is through symbolism. Symbols are commonly found throughout nature; they are marks or signs that represent things to help humans understand them. Some examples of natural symbols include the ocean being a symbol for the vastness of the world and mountains having to do with power. Flowers also have been used as a symbol for many things throughout history. In relation to this essay, flowers are used as a symbol for human life cycles and maturity.
The last source I will discuss is from an article found online from writer's digest "How To Use Flowers In Your Fiction Writing". This article talks about how flowers have been commonly used in literature as well as movies to show profound beauty because it is something that can stand out in nature.
Conclusion
Flowers have been a part of the human life cycle for many years; they have even been used as a symbol for maturity, happiness, and time passing by. The depth with which flowers have been used in this essay is profound, but one can still learn many different things from it. Despite their wide use in all forms of writing, it doesn't mean that this essay was without flaws. First off I read the passage about how flowers were used in romanticism poetry and found that it had many grammatical errors.