The Motif Of Flowers In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

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In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses the motif of flowers to develop the symbolic idea of innocence. As seen in the text, Romeo, the main protagonist, is said to be "the bud bit with an envious worm" (1.1.141). Lord Montague, Romeo's father, calls him this in the first scene due to his recent sadness and compares him to a poisoned flower bud. The bud symbolizes his youth and innocence while the envious worm symbolizes the cause of Romeo's heartbreak, in this case, Rosaline, his ex-girlfriend. Rosaline poisoned his innocence when she broke his heart, and a poisoned flower bud will never open up or become a flower. This is a reference to Romeo because he has not been able to open up about his broken heart to anyone and it has been preventing