Crown Imperial

Crown imperial is mentioned by Perdita in The Winter’s Tale.  Perdita is the lost child who is found at the end of the play.  Born a princess but cast off by her father, she has been fostered with a shepherd’s family and has grown up strong and self-possessed.  At a sheep-shearing festival, she calls upon Proserpina (Persephone), the queen of the underworld, for flowers to celebrate her love.  Specifically, she calls for the “flowers…that frighted thou let’st fall/from Dis’s wagon” and these include “the crown imperial” and “lilies of all kinds” (4.4).  According to Greek story, Persephone/Prosperina, daughter of the harvest goddess Demeter (Ceres), was captured by the ruler of the underworld (Hades/Pluto/Dis) and taken down to live with him.  Her mother made eternal winter until Hades agreed to allow Proserpina to return for six months of the year.  Perdita’s allusion points to a wider resonance of the Proserpina’s story within The Winter’s Tale: both include gendered violence and a lost child (Fox).  The story of Prosperpina has many layers, and one of them speaks to fundamental love between parent and child.  Perdita, Shakespeare’s character, herself a child who has been taken away from her mother, whose mother loves her and longs to see her again, wishes for a long list of flowers, including crown imperial, so that she can cover her new love (son of the king of Sicily) with garlands.