Violets

General Information

The wonderful scent of violets has always fascinated people. These flowers flourish in obscurity, hidden away in a shady and moist environment.

The name of the violet flower indicates its colour. Most violets are purple or violet and are equipped with heart-shaped leaves which are arranged asymmetrically. ¹ Furthermore, a violet flower always has five petals. ²

The violet (viola) is registered as a spring flower plant, belonging to the family Violaceae. “Violets are native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere and are also distributed in Hawaii, Australasia, and the Andes in South America.” ³

Meaning and Symbolism

The violet is a symbol of innocence, abundance and true love, which is attributable to religion and culture. According to Christian belief, it is said that it was right after Gabriel had told Mary about her pregnancy, that violets started to blossom for the first time. “[...] thus the flower is associated with Mary's humble nature and her devotion.” ⁴

Despite its religious heritage, the violet bears a conflicting meaning. Humility and modesty are symbolized by that purple flower which blooms only in secret, hidden away under its leaves. Though interestingly, many power-hungry people declared the violet their favorite flower. ⁵

The Romans interpreted the deep color of violets “as an image of a spilt blood.” ⁶ Concurrently, they also thought of it as a symbol of endless devotion and fondness.

In Victorian times it was common to send flowers to get a message across. Receiving a violet then meant that the receiving person was thought of as someone who spoke like a child “[...] - frank but without any malice.” ⁷

Interpretation of the violet regarding the short story A Cup of Cold Water

“He (Woburn) took leave early and on his way home stopped at a florist's and sent her (Miss Talcott) a bunch of violets. The next morning he got a little note from her: the violets had done her head so much good.” ⁸

Miss Talcott is described by Woburn as a young and naive little girl unable to understand the complexity of the human moral spectrum. According to him, girls like her are raised in a shallow way, equipped with a plain and infantile mind, which leaves them helpless, unable to do even simple tasks or forming ideas of relevance. By sending Miss Talcott that bunch of violets, Woburn made use of that Victorian way of getting indirect messages across. The flower is underlines Woburn's opinion about Miss Talcott.

Her response in a way proves her innocent and childlike mind. She assumes Woburn only sent her violets because of their soothing scent to comfort her while she was suffering from a headache.