The canker galls the infants of the spring / Too oft before their buttons be disclos’d, / And in the morn and liquid dew of youth / Contagious blastments are most imminent.
Act I, Scene 3 · Laertes
Context
Laertes warns Ophelia that young women are vulnerable to corruption and harm, comparing youth to spring flowers that are often damaged by disease before they can bloom fully.
Analysis
The agricultural imagery of 'canker,' 'infants of the spring,' and 'buttons' (buds) frames youth as inherently fragile and under attack, with corruption presented as an external blight rather than a personal choice. The phrase 'too oft' gives this a sense of inevitability—ruin is common, expected, almost natural—which strips Ophelia of agency by suggesting she is a plant waiting passively to be either infected or preserved.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Laertes uses disease imagery to position Ophelia as passive and defenseless, unable to protect herself—this metaphor set justifies his control over her by making female youth seem incapable of self-direction, which the play later critiques through her tragic unraveling.