Kew Gardens
“Kew Gardens” is a short, exciting story composed by Virginia Woolf. In the story, there is a description of individuals categorized into four paired groups; couples that are married, a young man with an older man, a young couple, and two older women passing flower beds within botanical gardens in London. Every couple has a story shown only within the fragmented moments; thus, giving the reader a relationship sense without providing further detail. In the story, there is the usage of butterflies and falling petals suggesting randomness inherent within the decision to shape human lives. It’s setting, writing styles, as well as specific imagery such as waterlilies, are for evoking impressionist aesthetic.
I think that in the story, the Woolf was trying to demonstrate various themes such as humanity, connection, uncertainty, letting go, paralysis, regret, love, desire, and passion. She narrated the story in the third person; however, various sections create the consciousness stream feeling as well as upon reading the story, I realized the significance of the setting. Setting the story in Royal Botanic Gardens in London may seem to be insignificant until one realizes its relevance in the public setting; the narrator manages the aspect of introducing every character and their types of life (walks). In the first section, Simon is being presented as he walks in the garden, recalling his marriage proposal rejection by Lily years back. Even though he is married to Eleanor, he finds it difficult to let go and still remembers the passion he had developed for Lily for years. I think that he has to be criticized for being unable to move on from Lily as it has caused him to be unsatisfied or paralyzed by his new partner, Eleanor. Seeing Simon walking in front of Eleanor suggests the feeling of being disconnected from Eleanor as well as his children. The memory of Eleanor being in the Kew Gardens as a child is significant also as it creates a sense of simplicity in life a child. In my opinion, Eleanor can easily notice that Simon does not love her.
The second group that visited the garden were two men where Woolf introduced appearing also not to let go, especially the older one. I think that in their story, the narrator tends to make direct reference towards world war one as well as using ‘thunder’ highlighting the different types of wars during WWI and their comparison to the previous ones. Additionally, the older man uses words as insulate and isolate to have various meanings. In its first meaning, isolate means keeping a distance from something elsewhere insulate means protecting or wrapping something. I think the man uses it to symbolize what transpired during the war. Whereby the authority attempted distancing its citizens from being harmed (isolate), on the other hand, meant protecting them from war atrocities.
Also, through the introduction of two women in the story, the narrator demonstrated lower-middle-class individuals, noting that despite the circumstances that a person may be incurring, life has to continue. Something that people fail to note between the two women as they walk in the gardens as well as it appears to refer to the shopping list ‘Sugar, flour, kippers, greens. Woolf, if anything, might have come up with an introduction of the women in the story to appeal to the readers that in as much as the life of an individual may be going astray, humanity has to continue. The life is crucial as it will continue as usual despite what one is experiencing (Simon and Old man) or the circumstances that a person may find themselves in (the case of Eleanor). People are obligated to perform their usual tasks such as thinking of others’ lives and shopping, both present and past. Also, it is possible that through the introduction of two women highlights the struggles experienced by women and ways they can overcome such challenges. Something the older man and Simon seemed unable to solve.
Furthermore, the ending part of the story seems to be exciting as Woolf tried to introduce a young couple as a way of highlighting the different ways life could have turned out for Simon if Lily could have agreed to the marriage proposal. Also, it may be significant for the young couples to portray togetherness at the end of the story to suggest that no matter the circumstances a person is facing, life has to move on, and people have to appreciate what they have. One thing that could easily be seen is the couples holding each other’s hands pushing the parasol towards the ground, demonstrating compassion and love for each other, unlike Simon, that continues to live in denial.
In conclusion, the “Kew Garden” story by Virginia Woolf focuses on flower beds within the botanical gardens in London. The four paired groups that walk in the garden portray different characters of humanity, connection, uncertainty, letting go, paralysis, regret, love, desire, and passion. People such as Simon struggle in his love life with Eleanor due to the marriage proposal that Lily rejected. In as much as people face challenges, life has to move on.
Work Cited
Woolf, Virginia. Kew Gardens. Modernista, 2014.