Professor Butter Beard, Ophelia and Rosemary
“There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray,
love, remember: and there is pansies. that's for thoughts.
There's fennel for you, and columbines: there's rue
for you; and here's some for me: we may call it
herb-grace o' Sundays: O you must wear your rue with
a difference. There's a daisy: I would give you
some violets, but they withered all when my father
died: they say he made a good end.”
- William Shakespeare, “Hamlet,” Act 4, Scene 5
Ophelia goes mad. The spirited young noblewoman of Denmark, daughter of the king’s advisor Polonius, sister of the volcanic Laertes and soulmate of Prince Hamlet, ends up in a state of heart-wrenching madness brought on by the Prince’s rejection and the murder of her father.
In her madness, she dances barefoot through the castle halls singing songs that range from childish to bawdy to macabre and passes out a bouquet of gathered flowers and herbs to those she meets, the eclectic variety of which symbolize her own complex personality. To the queen she offers rosemary (traditionally carried by mourners at funerals as a symbol of a “memory”). To the newly-crowned king she presents pansies (whose name is derived from the French word pensie, meaning “thought” or “remembrance”). And to her brother, fennel (a quick-dying flower symbolizing sorrow), columbines (a flower symbolizing affection, often given to lovers), and daisies (symbols of innocence and purity, and the flower of the Norse fertility goddess Freya).
But Ophelia states that she has no violets left— they all withered when her father died. Violets are considered symbols of modesty, often tied to the Virgin Mary, which may imply that Ophelia no longer cares about upholding shallow social norms in the wake of such a devastating tragedy. Shakespeare historians have written that Ophelia’s “bouquet” is contradictory: there are flowers associated with sorrow and mourning, but also happy remembrances; there are flowers that denote purity and chastity alongside flowers given as tokens of sexual or romantic love between partners. Many agree that Ophelia’s flowers symbolize her many-faceted personality and desires, which have been stripped, squashed, and corrupted by society’s expectations.
One of the earliest known illustrations depicting the madness of Ophelia is credited to Sir John Gilbert. An English artist, illustrator and engraver, he is known for the illustrations and wood-engravings he produced for the “Illustrated London News” during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. But what has always drawn my attention were the over 750 etchings he created for the lavish three-volume “Works of Shakespeare,” edited by Howard Staunton and published by George Routledge and Sons in 1867. Over 400 of the artist’s drawings were published in the illustrated collection including this version of “Ophelia” and another representing Hamlet’s rejection of the fair maiden.
It was this masterpiece of captured emotion that influenced my direction of this summer’s “Hamlet” by the Stone Church Players. I chose to present the journey as a ghost story, with the dead and living inhabiting the same stage. Before every performance evening, I run my hands through my personal herb garden and gather a bouquet of rosemary, fennel and sage for Ophelia’s dance of madness. I also gather extra rosemary to bake into batches of these crisp and heavily spiced crackers for the actors to snack upon as they dress and morph into character. Bake a batch for your next gathering, and don’t be surprised if they inspire some uninhibited barefoot dancing under the summer full moon.
Rosemary Crackers with Roasted Pecans, Parmesan and Dried Chili Peppers
Four dozen crackers
½ cup roasted pecans
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
¼ tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp dried chili flakes
8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into ½’ cubes
½ cup cold buttermilk
Coarse sea salt to sprinkle over crackers before baking
1) Lightly toast the pecans in a non-stick skillet and set aside to cool completely.
2) In a food processor, pulse the pecans and the rosemary together into a coarse chop. You still want small pieces of the nuts – not a powder.
3) Empty the chopped nuts into a large bowl and then pulse together the flour, parmesan, sea salt, chili flakes and butter cubes until the it resembles coarse cornmeal. Empty the chopped contents into the same bowl as the nuts.
4) With your fingers, mix all the ingredients checking for any leftover large clumps of butter. Pour in the cold buttermilk and use your hands to gather the dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature while your oven heats.
5) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment.
6) Divide the dough in half. Flour a piece of parchment on your counter and roll the first ball of dough into a square ¼” thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut the rolled dough into 1 ½” squares. Before separating the squares, sprinkle the top with the coarse sea salt and, if desired, create a pattern with the tins of a fork on each square. Place the squares on the parchment-lined sheet pan, 1” apart.
7) Gather the scraps of the first ball of dough and add to the second. Roll the second and cut into squares. Place these on the second sheet pan. Y ou should have four dozen crackers to bake.
8) Bake the crackers for 12-14 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the crackers are crisp and evenly browned.
9) Cool the crackers completely on wire racks before serving.
Sir John Gilbert (English: 1817 - 1897), “Hamlet Rejects Ophelia,” 1867, “The Works of Shakespeare,” Edited by Howard Staunton, Engraved by the Dalziel Brothers, Published by George Routledge and Sons, London, 1867.
Faith King as Ophelia, “Hamlet,” The Stone Church Players, June 2022, photograph by author.
Mark Holihan, “Hamlet,” 2022, Linocut created for The Stone Church Players
