The White Mulberry Tree

Credit Where Credit's Due

With the White Mulberry Tree, we've got a straight-up allusion to both Shakespeare and Ovid. So, let's get to it, and see what this allusion brings to O Pioneers!

Ovid is the Roman poet who wrote Metamorphoses, a collection of legends written in lyric form. In one of these, he tells the story of two unlucky lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe, who live on either side of a wall. Their only contact is through a little hole in this wall, where they're able to whisper their loving messages. It's sort of like Internet dating, the ancient way.

Eventually, as these things usually go, they make plans to meet in person. And where do they meet? Under a white mulberry tree, of course. Well, one mishap leads to another. Pyramus is led to believe Thisbe has been eaten by a lion (actually, she got away), and in true noble fashion, decides to kill himself. Then, Thisbe comes back, sees that Pyramus is dead, and decides to throw in the towel, as well.

The tragedy of their fate saddens the gods. So, as a memorial to Pyramus and This be, they decide to make the white mulberries turn red, just as they were stained by the blood of Pyramus and Thisbe on that fateful day. This legend explains why mulberries start out white, and slowly turn a dark red as they ripen. Hungry yet? 

In any case, this story gets the Shakespearian treatment in A Midsummer's Night Dream. In this play, the story of Pyramus and Thisbe is performed by two characters as a play-within-a-play. It also echoes some of the themes of forbidden love at work elsewhere in the play. Check out what Shmoop has to say about A Midsummer's Night Dream.

P.S. It's also worth pointing out that the story bears more than a little resemblance to Romeo and Juliet, too.

No Stain, No Gain

Okay, so the White Mulberry Tree in O Pioneers! is an allusion to the Ovidian legend, and its many adaptations (Shakespeare is only the most famous example, by the way). Clearly, Pyramus and Thisbe are the original Emil and Marie. Even when Frank pokes his rifle through the hedge and shoots the young lovers, we're reminded of Pyramus and Thisbe passing notes through the chink in the wall, but granted, a few details have been changed.

The real question is: what do we make of this? Fortunately, we have some ideas. For one, the staining of the white mulberries by the blood of two young lovers is a classic symbol of spoiled innocence. And there's a way in which it's not just Emil and Marie who lose their innocence in O Pioneers!, but also Alexandra. Emil's murder in particular forces her to confront a lot of her hidden desires. (See her "Character Analysis" for more).

But also, the fact that the novel takes up such a popular allusion seems to have significance beyond just the symbolic. Think back to what Carl says, for instance, after glimpsing Emil and Marie out hunting one early morning:

"And now the old story has begun to write itself over there," said Carl softly. "Isn't it queer: there are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before; like the larks in this country, that have been singing the same five notes over for thousands of years." (2.4.12-13)

Here, it's almost as if Carl himself is reflecting on the legend's repetitionin the novel. Just as "human stories […] go on repeating themselves," the novel repeats a "story" that appears in many other places in literary history. In this way, the recycled image of the white mulberry tree also raises the question of human freedom: to what extent do human beings just live out the same dramas, over and over again? What role do we play in determining our own fates?

Now, to look at how the novel deals with these questions, check out "Symbols: Books, Writing, Self-Expression."