References to Ophelia

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Ophelia is often referred to in literature and the arts, often in connection to suicide, love, and/or mental instability.

Contents 1 In Art 1.1 Arthur Hughes 1.2 John William Waterhouse 1.3 Other Artists 2 In Literature 3 In Poetry 4 In Music 4.1 Band Names 4.2 Classical Works 4.3 Albums 4.4 Video Clips 4.5 Songs 4.6 Other 5 In Computer Games 6 In Science 7 In Theater 8 In Film

[edit] In Art

[edit] Arthur Hughes

1851

1863

[edit] John William Waterhouse

1889	1894	Circa 1908 Study for next painting	1908 Also known as "Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May"
1910

[edit] Other Artists

John Everett Millais 1852

Pierre Auguste Cot 1870

Alexandre Cabanel 1883

Jules Joseph Lefebvre 1890

[edit] In Literature

• Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky, in the first chapter of his 1880 masterpiece The Brothers Karamazov, described a capricious young woman who committed suicide by throwing herself off a steep cliff into a river, simply to imitate Shakespeare's Ophelia. Dostoevsky concludes that "Even then, if the cliff, chosen and cherished from long ago, had not been so picturesque, if it had been merely a flat, prosaic bank, the suicide might not have taken place at all."

• Mary Pipher alluded to Ophelia in the title of her nonfiction book Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. The book puts forth the thesis that modern American teenage girls are victimized, lost, and unsure of themselves, like Ophelia.

• Ophelia's Revenge, a novel by Rebecca Reisert, is a retelling of Hamlet from Ophelia's point of view.

• Ophelia is the name of a "desiring-machine" in Yury Olesha's 1927 novel Envy. Invented by Ivan Babichev, the machine "sings our love songs now, stupid love songs of the old age, and gathers flowers of the old age. It falls in love, is jealous, cries, has dreams..."

• In Anne Rice's novel Blackwood Farm Mona Mayfair says that she wishes to die like Ophelia on a bed of flowers.

[edit] In Poetry

• French poet Arthur Rimbaud wrote the poem 'Ophélie' about her.
• The poet Gogi James writes of a "Zombie Ophelia" who wanders the streets of New York City, still seeking love from her black velvet-clad Hamlet.

• T.S. Eliot alludes to her final words in his poem The Waste Land at the end of 'A Game of Chess' (line 172... "good night, ladies, good night sweet ladies, good night, good night.")

[edit] In Music

[edit] Band Names

• Exit Ophelia is the name of a gothic band from California, which references the stage directions at the end of particularly dramatic and emotional scenes, suggesting that the band is charged by "a human reaction to devastation", as Ophelia was.

[edit] Classical Works

• Hector Berlioz made Ophelia the subject of his composition: Tristia, and titled one movement "The Death of Ophelia."
• Frank Bridge wrote a symphonic poem for orchestra entitled There is a willow grows aslant a brook, taken from the first line of Gertrude's monologue recounting Ophelia's death.

[edit] Albums

• Ophelia is referenced by Natalie Merchant in her song, "Ophelia" on the album of the same title.

• Emilie Autumn has a song and album called Opheliac in which the singer compares herself to Ophelia, which references the famous "Doubt thou the stars are fire..." lines from Hamlet. Emilie Autumn also has several other songs referring to Ophelia, including "306".

• Indigo Girls have an album called Swamp Ophelia.
  

  

  The Play Scene in Hamlet by Edwin Austin Abbey

[edit] Video Clips

• Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave based the music video for their single "Where the Wild Roses Grow" on the painting by Millais.

[edit] Songs

• Jim Morrison alluded to Ophelia in "Ode to LA" while thinking of Brian Jones.

• Bob Dylan refers to her in "Desolation Row" on his album, Highway 61 Revisited.

• Stephen Duffy references Ophelia in his song "In The Evening Of Her Day" - In the evening of her day / Ophelia comes to court me / Not that I could stay away / Her kisses seem to haunt me.

• The Band wrote a song titled "Ophelia", though the song was named after Minnie Pearl (Ophelia was her real name), according to drummer Levon Helm.

• Michale Graves sings about her in his song "Ophelia"

• The Grateful Dead incorporate Shakespeare's words in their song "Althea": "Yours may be the fate of Ophelia / Sleepin' and perchance, to dream."

• Ambulance Ltd has a song called "Ophelia".

• L'arc en ciel (a popular Japanese band) has a song called "Ophelia".

• Lord Vampyr has a song called "The Ophelia's Ghost".

• Rasputina has a song called "Dig Ophelia".

• Jewel references Ophelia in the song "Innocence Maintained:" Ophelia drowned in the water/Crushed by her own weight

• David Usher wrote the song "Ophelia" on the Creature album, which can be interpreted as Hamlet's complaint.

• The Shroud wrote the song "Ophelia" for their 1992 album Drowning Dreams.

• Abney Park wrote the song "Dear Ophelia" for their 2005 album The Death of Tragedy.

• Danish band Kashmir features the song "Ophelia" on their No Balance Palace album from 2005. As in the Shakespeare play, this Ophelia finds answers in inexplicable in insanity.

• Darling Violetta's song Ophelia refers to the character's suicide in the lines the water is quiet, and calm, makes me feel like I am home.

• Natalie Merchant has a song about Ophelia being "a child of a stripping sheep".

• Tom Waits, in the song "Who Are You?", refers to his lover as Ophelia. Now Ophelia wants to know, Where she should turn, Tell me...what did you do, What did you do the last time?, Why don't you do that?

• The Tea Party's song "Silence" (on The Edges of Twilight album) refers to Ophelia's fate with the following lyrics: And lie in the bed you've made Ophelia...dry are the lips that lost their taste of love...drown in the waters that would give you life...cry as this lamentation thrusts its knife.

• In Ergo Proxy's OPUS TWO soundtrack, track number 10 is named "Ophelia", referring to a similar situation the main character went through.

• Bethany Joy Galeotti (formerly Bethany Joy Lenz / Joie Lenz) wrote and sang a song called "Ophelia". The track was released on her official webiste.

• "L'eau Des Mauves" on Collection d'Arnell Andrea's Exposition, Eaux-Fortes et Méandres was inspired by John Everett Millais's painting Ophelia.

[edit] Other

• The band Hole used a painting of Ophelia drowning by Paul Steck as the back cover for their final album Celebrity Skin

[edit] In Computer Games

• In the Capcom game Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams, Ophelia was depicted as the demonic priestess of the genma/demon's legion, one of the core member of Genma Triumvirate.

• StarCraft, created by Blizzard Entertainment uses Ophelia as the name of a cheat code to skip levels.

[edit] In Science

• Uranus's secondmost inner moon was also named after Ophelia after being discovered by Voyager 2 in 1986 , and is one of the smallest moons in the solar system (with a diameter of only 16 km).

• 171 Ophelia is an asteroid in the asteroid belt.

[edit] In Theater

• Dying Like Ophelia is an award winning six-minute drama about a woman who wants to die in a manner resembling Millais's painting. It was based on an excerpt of the play, Lion In The Streets, by Judith Thompson.

• Jean Betts, a playwright from New Zealand, wrote a feminist version of Hamlet from Ophelia's point of view. The play contains original writing by Betts interwoven with Shakespeare's own text and is called Ophelia Thinks Harder.

• Playwright Don Nigro explains Ophelia's madness in a first-person narrative by her in his 10 minute play Dead Men's Fingers.

[edit] In Film

• Ophelia is the name of a character in the film Trading Places who says I know, he goes crazy, she kills herself, this isn't Shakespeare Louis.

• Ophelia (in Spanish, Ofelia) is the protagonist in the film Pan's Labyrinth who is a bookish, imaginative girl stuck in cruel military outpost.