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John Everett Millais 'Hamlet': Ophelia's Metamorphosis

322 Words2 Pages

Ophelia is widely known for her psychosis and eventual death in the Shakespeare play, “Hamlet”. Her character is referenced in many forms of artwork, particularly her death. Probably the most iconic painting of her demise is the painting, “Ophelia”, by John Everett Millais. The oil on canvas painting depicts Ophelia lying in the river surrounded the flowers she had been picking before she drowned. In this project, however instead of showing Ophelia’s corpse in the water, the painting depicts the water in her corpse. The painting shows Ophelia’s lungs filled with water with her flowers floating in it. In act four scene five Shakespeare displays Ophelia’s madness with her speaking nonsense that foreshadows her her death and handing out imaginary

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