Rue is a bitter-leaved herb, and its best-known meaning, regret and sorrow, grew from how it tastes.1Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Rue — Friends of Shakespeare Garden Yet the same plant has also stood for grace, for protection against evil, and for a bride’s purity, depending on who was holding it. Few plants carry a message this mixed, and in a bouquet it usually reads as a reproach rather than a kindness.
Why Rue Means Regret
Rue leaves taste sharply bitter, and some people get an upset stomach from eating them.2Wikipedia. Ruta graveolens People tied the plant to bitter feelings such as remorse and repentance.3Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Rue — Friends of Shakespeare Garden The leaves can also blister skin, which deepened the sense of a painful plant.4Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Rue — Friends of Shakespeare Garden Regret is a feeling people already describe as bitter, so the herb made a ready image. The smell is strong and medicinal too, so the symbolism came from several senses at once, not from taste alone.
The plant’s name comes from the Greek and Latin “ruta.”5Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Rue — Friends of Shakespeare Garden The English verb “to rue,” meaning to regret, has a separate origin.6Wikipedia. Ruta graveolens In English the two blurred, and saying “rue” named both the herb and the feeling. That overlap is why phrases like “rue the day” feel linked to the plant.7Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Rue — Friends of Shakespeare Garden
The shared sound reinforced the symbolism without creating it. Writers used this on purpose, setting a sprig of rue on the page as a pun that carried the sorrow of the verb.
Rue in Shakespeare and Hamlet
Shakespeare mentions rue several times, usually in a mournful tone.8Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Rue — Friends of Shakespeare Garden The best-known moment is Ophelia’s line in Act IV, “there’s rue for you, and here’s some for me.”9DailyArt Magazine. The Flora of Folklore: Hidden Flower Symbolism in Art’s Greatest Paintings Hamlet has killed her father Polonius, so she has her own grief to carry.10Study.com. Flowers in Hamlet by William Shakespeare: Overview and Symbolism The Danish court around her also has much to regret, so her gift accuses as well as mourns.11Study.com. Flowers in Hamlet by William Shakespeare: Overview and Symbolism Giving rue to the queen hints that she should regret her actions, while keeping some for herself shows Ophelia’s own grief. Ophelia also hands out other flowers in the same scene, including rosemary for remembrance and pansies for thoughts, so rue is one piece of a spoken bouquet.
Rue’s bitterness earned it the name “herb of repentance,” and that name later turned into “herb of grace.”12Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Rue — Friends of Shakespeare Garden So in Shakespeare’s time rue could mean both sorrow for wrongdoing and the mercy that follows. Rue turns up in other plays as well. In Richard II, a gardener plants it and calls it the “herb of grace” in a spot where the queen wept.
Today, Shakespeare-themed gardens often plant rue for its literary link. Quoting Ophelia with a sprig signals grief or remembrance, not romance, so it suits memorials and literary gifts better than celebrations.
What Rue Means in the Victorian Language of Flowers
Victorians used a code in which each flower sent a message.13notsarahconnor.substack.com. Rue Rue meant regret, but as a warning to the recipient: “you’ll regret what you’ve done.”14notsarahconnor.substack.com. Rue Some guides list rue as disdain, used in bouquets meant to reject someone.15Carleton College. There’s Rue for You: A Guide to Victorian Flower Language Paired with pennyroyal and tansy, it could signal “you must leave” or even war.16Planterra. Floriography: The Secret Language of Flowers in the Victorian Era For a real apology, choose a flower with a gentler meaning, since anyone who knows flower language may read rue as hostility.
Flower guides were popular books, but different authors often gave the same flower different meanings, so no single list is the final word. That is why rue appears as regret in some books and as disdain in others.
Rue rarely traveled alone, because the code worked by combining flowers into a sentence, and its neighbors shaped the message. Beside gentler blooms it could soften toward plain sorrow, while beside pennyroyal and tansy it turned sharper.
Rue as a Protective Herb Against Evil
Egyptians, Greeks and Romans believed rue could treat many illnesses.17United States Botanic Garden. Rue Science Page Hippocrates recommended it in a drink before exposure as protection against poisons.18LacusCurtius. By the Greeks and Romans The Roman writers Dioscorides and Pliny suggested it for venomous snake bites.19Wikipedia. Ruta graveolens
Rue’s pungent smell and bitter taste set it apart from sweet herbs, and people often assumed a plant that harsh must repel harm. None of this meant it worked; the protection was a belief.
Folk belief held that rue kept witches away.20Mother Earth Gardener. Rue: The Forgotten Herb In the early Catholic Church, rue sprigs were dipped in holy water and sprinkled over worshippers.21Fayette County Record. Rue: A Forgotten But Useful Herb The plant gained the name “herb of grace” in a new, blessing sense.22Mother Earth Gardener. Rue: The Forgotten Herb
The cimaruta is an Italian folk amulet, usually silver, shaped like a sprig of rue.23Wikipedia. Cimaruta It was worn round the neck or hung above a baby’s bed to ward off the evil eye.24Wikipedia. Cimaruta Each branch tip carries a small charm, some drawing on Christian symbols.25Wikipedia. Cimaruta
Rue in Lithuanian Weddings and Maidenhood
In Lithuanian tradition, rue was the main symbol of a girl’s life before marriage.26Этнография. THE CODIFICATION AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF RUE’S IMAGE IN LITHUANIAN TRADITION Each young woman was expected to grow her own rue garden, and a beautiful garden showed she was a good, capable girl.27Этнография. THE CODIFICATION AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF RUE’S IMAGE IN LITHUANIAN TRADITION The plant was treated as sacred and filled folk songs, even as a cure for heartache.28Этнография. THE CODIFICATION AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF RUE’S IMAGE IN LITHUANIAN TRADITION
Rue from that garden made wreaths for the wedding eve and wedding.29Этнография. THE CODIFICATION AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF RUE’S IMAGE IN LITHUANIAN TRADITION Guests plaited a rue wreath, a sign of chastity, and placed it on the bride’s head.30LITUANUS. Appendix E: Ancient Wedding Customs Here rue means purity and hope, not regret.
Rue could signal honor too. A green crown of rue appears in the coat of arms of Saxony, and an order of knighthood, the Order of the Rue Crown, took its name from it.
Rue in Women’s Folk Medicine and Kitchens
Roman writers described rue oil as a way to end pregnancy.31Wikipedia. Ruta graveolens Historians say several such ancient plants, including rue, do contain chemicals that can end a pregnancy.32Nursing Clio. Pennyroyal, Mifepristone, and the Long History of Medication Abortions Spanish-Mexican communities in New Mexico have also used it this way, but used like this it can cause toxic side effects.33PubMed. Plants used as abortifacients and emmenagogues by Spanish New Mexicans
Historical use shows belief, not a safe dose, and rue taken this way can be dangerously toxic. Anyone pregnant should keep rue out of food and teas.
In the kitchen, Romans used rue in a paste with garlic, cheese, coriander and celery seed.34Mother Earth Gardener. Rue: The Forgotten Herb Today it appears in some old family Italian recipes and is widely used in Ethiopia, including in coffee.35Mother Earth Gardener. Rue: The Forgotten Herb It should be used sparingly and avoided in pregnancy or with liver problems.36Wikipedia. Ruta graveolens
Is Rue Safe to Grow and Handle
Rue contains chemicals that make skin react to sunlight.37PubMed. Rue the herb: Ruta graveolens–associated phytophototoxicity Sap on skin followed by sunlight can cause a strong burning reaction.38PubMed. Rue the herb: Ruta graveolens–associated phytophototoxicity Wear gloves and long sleeves when cutting rue.
Redness and blistering often come a day or so after the sap and sun meet, and that delay makes people miss the cause. Marks often follow the shape of leaves or drips. Wash skin quickly after contact and stay out of the sun. Marks can leave darkened skin that fades slowly. See a doctor for large or severe blisters.
Wiccan and pagan practice uses rue for protection and banishing. Some people hang it over doors or add it to baths for cleansing. Handle fresh sprigs with gloves, and avoid adding fresh rue to baths, since sap left on the skin can burn in sunlight.
Gardeners often plant rue to keep pests away, but few such companion-planting claims have been proven.39Vermont Public. Vermont Garden Journal: Companion Planting For Pest Control Cultivated rue can itself be overrun by aphids.40PubMed Central. Aphid Infestation and Predator Dynamics in Cultivated Ruta chalepensis: Evidence of Myzus persicae Adaptation and Natural Enemy Responses Rue oil, though, has controlled mites in beehives in testing.41PubMed Central. Ruta Essential Oils: Composition and Bioactivities