Limes, madam.
What is the symbolic significance of limes; particularly in the scene with Mr. Neville and Mrs. Herbert where he says "Limes, madam, can smell so sweet."?
shareNot only that, there seems to be some hidden allegory in the pineapple as well! We're given something of an explanation as to the introduction of the pomegranate to the proceedings, but...
Other fruits that pop up in the dialogue: plum, orange, raspberry - some others that currently evade me? Fascinating puzzle it is!
"POWER TO THE PEOPLE WHO PUNISH BAD CINEMA!!!"
I think it's at least partly to do with the foreign cultural hegemony (formerly French, by this period Dutch) being compared with the cultivation of non-native fruit (oranges, pomegranates, pineapples - Neville even draws attention to this meaning by punning on "orangery" and "Oranje"). Notice that the Green Man, the Genius Loci (as Greenaway has described him) spits out the pineapple at the end: it doesn't agree with him.
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"An inglorious peace is better than a dishonourable war" ~ John Adams
The pineapple, time-honored symbol of welcome, is sour, not sweet, as Mrs. Herbert would have Mr. Neville believe.
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