VLVL(4)(m) Oh Fig!

[Michael Joseph]

Figs are associated with concupiscence, as a quick check of the
Shakespeare concordance will help to show, and with the female sexual
organ. Perhaps their frequent employment in Renaissance lit as double
entendre might even have led Pynchon to use fig as a way of referencing
the (lost) coherent systematic symbolism of the Renaissance, or even as a
traditional symbol of (comedic)  marriage.

Best,

Michael

On Mon, 25 Aug 2003, Vincent A. Maeder wrote:

> 	"under a fig tree"  (VL, Ch. 4, p. 39)  A tree that bears its
> fruit without visible blossoms and before leaves appear.  Mr. Pynchon is
> probably referring to the Calimyrna fig tree.
> http://www.californiafigs.com/history/
> 	"1. fig tree [n.] Any moraceous tree of the tropical genus
> Ficus; produces a closed pear-shaped receptacle that becomes fleshy and
> edible when mature."
> http://ultralingua.net/results.html?lookup_action=en|english|english&loo
> kup_letters=fig+tree
> 	"When the fig-tree putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is
> nigh."
> http://65.66.134.201/cgi-bin/webster/webster.exe?search_for_texts_web182
> 8=nigh
> 	"The trees said to the fig-tree, come thou, and reign over us.
> Judges 9."
> http://65.66.134.201/cgi-bin/webster/webster.exe?search_for_texts_web182
> 8=personify
> 	"And presently the fig-tree withered away. Matt.21."
> http://65.66.134.201/cgi-bin/webster/webster.exe?search_for_texts_web182
> 8=presently
> 	"It is said that Judas hanged himself on a fig-tree."
> http://www.bartleby.com/81/6414.html
> 	"The popular Calimyrna fig, golden brown in color, is the Smyrna
> variety that was brought to California's San Joaquin Valley from Turkey
> in 1882, and was renamed Calimyrna in honor of its new homeland."
> http://www.californiafigs.com/history/
> 	There are some nice correlations with Adam and Eve and their fig
> tree.  Then, of course, there's the symbolism of Cleopatra's end with
> that asp hidden in the fig basket.
> http://www.artmagick.com/Paintings/painting3582.aspx
> http://www.quotationspage.com/special.php3?file=w980830
>
>
>