Gilly Flowers

Around Easter time, rejoicing in the fact that the Duke has gone to Rome for the festivities, Nencia and the Duchess take a walk. Here the gilly flowers are mentioned: “Well, it was one day in May that the Duchess, who had walked long with Nencia on the terrace, rejoicing at the sweetness of the prospect and the pleasant scent of the gilly-flowers in the stone vases, the Duchess toward midday withdrew to her rooms, giving orders that her dinner should be served in her bed-chamber.”[1]

Flowers, a symbol of feminine (if not girlish) beauty and of the transience and brevity of life[2], can here be interpreted as the Duchesses' relief and respite of the Duke’s absence as well as her joy at being able to spend her time as she sees fit. Underlined by Nencia’s accompaniment and the mention of the walk taking place around Easter, a time of rebirth, and her jubilant and secretive request to take food in her bed-chamber, these lines paint a picture of a short-lived moment of peace and sexual freedom in the Duchess’s life.

[1] Wharton 1901, p. 12

[2] Ferber 2007, p. 75