Hours/Dalloway #10

“‘No,’ says Angelica. ‘There’s still the roses.’... [Virginia] almost protests that the bird should be laid down first, the roses arranged around its body. That is clearly how it should be done. You would, she thinks, argue with a five-year-old girl about such things. You would, if Vanessa and the boys weren’t watching. 

Angelica takes one of the yellow roses they’ve picked and places it, carefully, along the edge of the grass mound. She adds another and another until she has created a rough circle of rosebuds, thorny stems, and leaves...Virginia looks with unanticipated pleasure at this modest circlet of thorns and flowers; this wild deathbed. She would like to lie down on it herself” (119).  

Cunningham uses this passage to show that Virginia Woolf and Laura Brown have very similar personalities. Just as Laura is very picky about how her cake is made and is set on the fact that the yellow roses should be placed on the cake after the lettering is written, Virginia feels the same way about the bird’s death bed. Cunningham uses the parallel situation between the two women to show this similarity. Both women are perfectionists. Throughout the whole novel, Cunningham frequently uses the symbol of the yellow rose. Yellow roses are interesting because their meaning has changed over time and their meaning varies depending on the location. In Eastern cultures, the rose holds a positive meaning but in European cultures, the yellow rose is a symbol of jealousy and of dying love. Today, the yellow rose is more commonly used to represent friendship but this negative connotation is still in its history. Cunningham uses yellow roses to represent the idea of dying love. At first glance, a yellow rose appears to be a positive symbol but after looking deeper, it actually represents a negative idea. This represents how many of the characters feel in the book. On the surface Mrs. Brown acts like her life is fine but deep down she is actually severely depressed. Similarly, Virginia Woolf may act as though she is feeling better so she can move back to London but she is actually not healed. Clarissa tries to create a life for herself with Sally but that is impossible with Richard’s illness. The frequent appearance of the yellow rose connects these women’s lives and reminds the reader that seemingly perfect lives actually have more layers.

Work Cited:

“History and Meaning of the Yellow Rose.” ProFlowers. 2010. 4 Oct. 2010 <http://www.proflowers.com/flowerguide/rosemeanings/yellowrose-meanings.aspx>. 

Photo Credit:

"To from Flowers2world.com." Sending Flowers Online - Flower Shops, Florist, Flowers, Send Flowers, Red Rose Bouquet, Flower Delivery. Web. 25 Oct. 2010 <http://www.flowers2world.com/send_flowers_online/viewdetails.asp?product_id=36&productid=68863>.