In Book 3 Canto 11, stanza 6 Britomart is described as “the flowre of chastity” (3.11.6.47). This connection between flowers and chastity was also something I noted in the reading for Monday. It came up a few times in that reading and seems to be a repeated idea throughout the text. I am wondering why chastity is connected so much with flowers, as flowers seem to me to be usually associated with sexuality? Just something that seems odd to me and I am curious what others think.
One thought on “Chastity and Flowers?”
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Hi Rachel! If I’m not mistaken, I think that white lilies were sometimes associated with the Virgin Mary. But I think you raise an interesting point. I wonder also if sexuality and chastity are not separate concepts- they seem to be very much connected / are inversions of each other (I don’t know if that makes sense).