Ophelia
Sir John Everett Millais, 1851-2
First look deeply at the image, really study it. Then view the video and read
the articles. Take notes on each. See below for examples. If you take
quotes then put “marks” to help you remember. Make sure to cite your
sources MLA format.
When you take notes, decide if you will quote or paraphrase.
Example of Notes from Video:
Stories of Art
Less constructive art and old classic stories
Focus on very beautiful women “stunners” Celebrating the beauty of women
A scene from Shakespeare play Hamlet
Ruue a plant associated with grief and lost love. Poppy is the source of Opium was added by Milais as symbol of sleep and death
Notes from article:
A pre-Raphaelite work. The pre-Raphaelites focused on serious and significant subjects. Painted directly from nature itself Liked to finish their paintings outside and believed that the background was as important as the subject.
Best know illustrations from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet
Millais painted Ophelia from 1851 and 1952. The outside was painted plain air in Surrey and the figure in his London studio. The model Elizabeth Siddall lay in a bath tub to pose for this painting with oil lamps under the tub to keep it warm. Elizabeth became ill due to these conditions.
The flowers were choose for their symbolic value
Notes from Article: Khan academy
Millias’ choice of Violets around Ophelia’s neck symbolized faithfulness.
Milias was able to create very life like images of the flowers and landscape scene by long hour of observation.
What your write up should look like:
Description:
A green lush outdoor scene, woman laying in small but deep creek, she appears the be in coma or dead, the woman is surrounded by beautiful flower, her hair floats on the waters surface, she seems to be sinking under the water,
Analysis:
John Everett Milais’ painting of Ophelia is the poster image for the pre-Raphaelites movement (Harris & Zucker, 2012). This art movement developed in England right before the invention of the camera (Tate museum article). The pre-Raphaelites focused on solitary women exploring the topics of longing, isolation, and madness (Harris & Sucker, 2012). The sheer beauty of the woman and her surroundings is in direct conflict with what we the viewer know as her impending death. Milais draws the viewer into the painting with his keen eye for detail.
Interpretation:
This painting is about grief and madness of loss. Both Hamlet and Ophelia are grieving the loss of their father’s. This is represented by the symbolic meaning of the flowers surrounding and being worn by Ophelia (Khan Academy). The “forget-me-knot, violets and poppies would have had recognizable meaning for the Victorian public viewing this
piece” (Harris & Sucker, 2012). The viewer is stunned by the beauty and tragic implications of this work.
Judgement:
The value of this work goes more to the extreme value the pre-Raphaelites put on creating images of beautiful women in difficult situations. This work should be seen and celebrated as the beauty is extended to the depiction of the botany. So much so that the image was used to teach young scientists about the atomy of the various flowers and plants in this painting (Tate museum article). This image is very much worth finding at the Tate museum.
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2M7U8eCeHA. Harris & Zucker, 2012 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csJJWjtiRYY. Stories of Art 2019
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/millais-ophelia-n01506/story-ophelia. Tate Museum
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/victorian-art-architecture/pre-
raphaelites/a/sir-john-everett-millais-ophelia. KhanAcademy