Margaret brings me flowers.
But sometimes she doesn’t exactly give them to me, because they’re too much fun to play with.
I don’t mind.
Also, if Stein means, as she seems to intimate that she does, that roses come with all of their symbolic freighting, and so that when we say “rose” we are invoking all of the imagery that roses have picked up, all I can say** is that she’s never seen Margaret and roses.***
And she’s missed a treat.
Also, Caty made the dress. Margaret loves it. Because it is a dress! With strawberries! Imagine that!
*It’s never too early to develop a disdain for Gertrude Stein. Never too early.
**If it really were all I could say, it would be a great comfort blah, blah, blah.
***Which, of course, is quite true.
Margaret is clearly demonstrating her sterling character in favoring things with strawberries. According to http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/berry/production/pdfs/berryfolklore.pdf:
ReplyDelete"In Victorian flower language, the strawberry
symbolizes perfection and “sweetness in life and
character.” It also represents modesty because the berries are often found under the leaves."
(Oh, and I'm a friend of Lea's.)