Una of the Garden and Kilmeny of the Orchard can be reread using the hortus conclusus (enclosed garden) motif as a lens to explore how romance and the realistic code collide and so embody L.M. Montgomery’s ambivalence regarding romantic love. The motif connects Una’s/Kilmeny’s space to Eden, as represented in Genesis 1 to 3 and in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and to the garden in the biblical Song of Songs, in complex evocations of imprisonment/liberation and protection/invasion.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Idette Noomé (2024) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: