Ophelia (1851 – 1852) – John Everett Millais

Few paintings are as well-known as this depiction of a woman of entrancing beauty, floating inert upon the surface of a stream as if she had already taken her last breath. Her name is Ophelia, and she is a tragic character in William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, in which unfolds the ill-fated love between Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, and the young Ophelia. Their romance comes to a bitter end when Hamlet’s vow to avenge at any cost the death of his father, who was murdered and usurped by Hamlet’s uncle, goes awry. In a cruel twist of fate, Ophelia learns that her father, mistaken for the traitorous king, has been murdered at the hands of her lover. In her grief, Ophelia succumbs to madness and drowns. In the following lines, Shakespeare evokes her final moments,

“but long it could not be // Till that her garments, heavy with their drink, // Pull’d the poor wretch from her melodious lay // To muddy death.”

This heart-rending passage is beautifully rendered in “Ophelia”, the apotheosis of Millais career that continues to enthral audiences today.