The Story of Ophelia

The photograph inspired by the story of Ophelia is linked to the original story in Hamlet, Act
IV Scene vii. Ophelia had been driven mad by the murder of her father by her lover Hamlet.
While she was out picking flowers she slipped and fell into a stream. In her grief and
madness she allowed herself to drown. While painting, Millais endured considerable
difficulties and discomfort; In December Millais inserted the figure after composing the
background. The model was Elizabeth Siddal who posed in a bath full of water kept warm by
lamps underneath. When the lamps went out, she caught a severe cold and her father
threatened Millais with legal action if he did not pay the doctor's bill. The willow, the nettle
growing within its branches and the daisies near Ophelia's right hand, are associated with
forsaken love, pain and innocence. The poppy is a symbol of death. The character of Ophelia
in Hamlet enters the play as a content, naive, young woman. Hamlets rejection of her love
and her fathers murder drive her to despair. She reverts to a simple-minded state, entering
a world of madness. Because she is incapable of rational thought, Ophelias death is an
accident rather than a suicide.
In Hamlet, the description of Ophelia drowning is serene and almost poetic, a gentle
transition into death. Ophelia blissfully sings hymns as she makes her way to the water,
emphasizing her innocence and purity. She gives no indication of forethought to her actions.
Once in the water, she does not resist or struggle against sinking because she lacks the
ability to recognize danger, she has no sense of doom or threat. Her death was an
unfortunate accident and she was not aware that she was drowning, ironically a solution to
her problems but she did not in conscious thought commit suicide. Ophelia was simply too
deeply entrenched in a fantasy realm to know that she was in danger.
The theme from this story, which inspired me to link to my final piece was that of release of
pain and being at peace; similar states to which religion can bring to an individual. Fire on
the occasions have looked at is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has the power to
forgive sins and release individuals from suffering and pain, which mirrors the story of
Ophelia greatly.