Delacroix The Death Of Ophelia

William Shakespeare wrote one of his most famous works, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, sometime between 1599 and 1602. Due to the large amount of time, the work has been analyzed countless times over. One Character that attracts attention and a wide variety of interpretations is the character called Ophelia. Ophelia has caught the attention of many artists that have decided to give life to their interpretations of the character in the form of paintings and drawings. One example of this is the painting The Death of Ophelia by Eugène Delacroix in 1853. This work presents an interesting interpretation of Ophelia's character regarding her death, status in relation to other characters, and madness.

One major aspect of Delacroix's interpretation is Ophelia's death. In the painting Ophelia is seen hanging onto a tree on the bank of the water, which suggests that she was still clinging to life, but had fallen into death because the tree could symbolize life and the water would be death. This interpretation of her death can lead to one of two conclusions

Based on the painting one can ascertain that Delacroix interprets Ophelia as sexually objectified by other characters in the play because of his decision to cloth Ophelia in loose and partly transparent clothing that suggests a high degree of eroticism and sensuality. Also, her trance-like expression or lack of expression makes Ophelia appear similar to an object or, more specifically, a doll. Shakespeare's play, supports this idea by Polonius warning Ophelia to not let Hamlet objectify her for sex and then later it is revealed that Hamlet had deflowered Ophelia outside of marriage and before her death. Although by the standards of today that might not be interpreted as objectification; the standards of the time when the play was written weigh heavily on the side of objectification of