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Ophelia through the Ages:
What Art Adds to the Text
WHAT THE TEXT SAYS
“One woe doth tread upon another's heel,
Till that her garments, heavy with th
So fast they follow; your sister's drown'd,
Laertes…
Pull'd the poor wretch from her melo
There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
To muddy death.”
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy
stream;
There with fantastic garlands did she come
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long
purples
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call
them:
There, on the pendent boughs her coronet
weeds
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke;
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread
wide;
And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up:
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes;
As one incapable of her own distress,
Or like a creature native and indued
Unto that element: but long it could not be
REMEMBER OPHELIA’S FLOWERS
“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance.
Pray you, love, remember. And there is
pansies, that’s for thoughts…
There’s fennel for you, and columbines.—
There’s rue for you, and here’s some for
me. We may call it “herb of grace” o'
Sundays.—Oh, you must wear your rue
with a difference.—There’s a daisy. I would
give you some violets, but they withered all
when my father died. They say he made a
good end (sings) For bonny sweet Robin is
all my joy—”
Ophelia
Robert Westall
1803
Ophelia
Joseph Severn
1831
Ophelia Arthur Hughes 1852 Oil on Canvas
Ophelia Sir John Everett Millais 1852 Oil on Canvas
The weeping willow tree leaning over Ophelia is
a symbol of forsaken love.
Crow flowers in the foreground look similar to
buttercups and symbolize ingratitude or childishness
The pink roses that float by Ophelia’s cheek and
her dress and the white field roses growing on
the river bank may refer to Act IV, Scene V
when Laertes calls his sister, ‘rose of May’. They
are also included for their many symbolic
meanings such as youth, love and beauty.
The daisies floating near Ophelia’s right
hand represent innocence. Ophelia also
mentions, ‘There’s a daisy’ in Act IV, scene v.
The garland of violets around Ophelia’s neck refer to Act
IV, Scene V. ‘I would give you some violets, but they
withered all when my father died: they say he made a good
end.’ Violets are a symbol of faithfulness and they can also
symbolize chastity and death in the young.
The pale blue forget-me-nots on the river bank
below the purple loosestrife and in the
immediate foreground, carry their meaning in
their name.
The meadowsweet flowers to the left of the
purple loosestrife may signify the futility (the
lack of purpose or uselessness) of Ophelia’s
death.
The pansies that float on the dress in the center,
refer to Act IV, Scene V where Ophelia gathers
flowers in the field (‘that’s for thoughts’). They
represent thought and they can also mean love in
vain.
The robin in the branches of the
willow tree may refer to the line,
‘For bonny sweet Robin is all my
joy’, which Ophelia sings as she
loses her mind in Act 1V, Scene v.
This may be a reference to the
fictional character Robin Hood, or
as birds are also symbolic of the
spirit, it could suggest that as she
floats down the river, her spirit flies
away. Red is traditionally the color
of martyrdom (deriving from the
Catholic church), bearing
connotations of spilled blood and
thus death.
Eugène Delacroix.
The Death of Ophelia, 1853.
Ophelia by Alexandre Cabanel 1883
Odilon Redon. Ophélie, 1905
W. G. Simmonds. The Drowning of Ophelia.
1910
Ernest Hébert. Ophelia, c. 1910.