Magnolia

By I, Liné1, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2277442
By Fotograf: Hans Kadereit --ka - Selbst fotografiert, GFDL 1.3, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29260586

General Information

Magnolia is a plant of the family magnoliaceae. It can grow as tree or bush with many big rose petals [1]. Compared to other trees the magnolia has thick, more primitively build petals. This indicates that the magnolia is one of the oldest plants on earth [2]. Magnolia is a very popular tree in gardens, because it blossoms early in spring, before its leaves grow. Some varieties are summer– and others wintergreen. The natural habitats of the magnolia are North America, the Caribbean, Middle America, South America and East Asia. Fossilized Magnolias can be found all over the world [1]. They died out in Europe during the Ice Age and were brought back as gifts from the Chinese Emperor to important people. The oldest magnolia trees in China are over 600 years old and are seen as a sign of prosperity [2]. Some varieties are used in Chinese medicine and even to make furniture [1]. The magnolia stands for purity, innocence, beauty, pure love [3] as well as inner peace and fidelity [4].


Interpretation of the Magnolia regarding to the short story Mr. Jones

“Against the purple brick sprawled a neglected magnolia, bearing one late flower as big as a planet” ([5] p. 596). As the magnolia stands for purity and innocence, the fact that it is dying could lead to the assumption that the area and the people of Bells are impure and not innocent.

The one late big flower may be interpreted as Jane’s innocence which is still standing tall against the impureness of the house or Jane herself as the last pure person at Bells.


[1] “Botanik der Magnolie”, Magnolie.

https://www.die-magnolie.de/botanik/ (06.04.2019)

[2] Hanske, Paul-Philipp, Werner, Christian (2018), Die Blüten der Stadt: Ein Wegweiser durch die urbane Pflanzenwelt, Suhrkamp Verlag AG, Berlin.

[3] “Magnolie”, Blumensprache.

https://blumensprache.blogspot.com/2013/03/magnolie.html (25.04.2019)

[4] “Der Magnolien-Baum – Wesen und Bedeutung”, Everyday Feng Shui.

https://www.everyday-feng-shui.de/der-magnolien-baum-wesen-und-bedeutung/ (25.04.2019)

[5] Lewis, Richard Warrington Baldwin (1968): The Collected Short Stories of Edith Wharton – Volume 2. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.