This interpretation enhances the death of the virginal and innocent creature that is Ophelia in Hamlet. She succumbs to a tree branch full of thorns, which symbolizes male desire and power, that possesses everything when it wants. In this version Ophelia drowns her soul and abandons her body in a pink forest, which represents flesh and sensuality linked to masculine power. The flowers are an extension of the female body, of Ophelia, who has cultivated them in the forest, waiting to be loved, collected.

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A permutation of Ophelia
Edition of

A permutation of Ophelia

Original cataloguing
ARTIST
Sir John Everett Millais
DaTe
1851-1852
Type of Art
Painting
Format
On canvas
Medium
Oil paint
Colour
DIMENSIONS
Support: 762 × 1118 mm, Frame: 1105 × 1458 × 145 mm
Distinguishing attributes
Location
Tate

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