Ophelia, by John Everett Millais and Taylor Swift on-stage during the 2024 Eras Tour. Credit - Getty Images Taylor Swift's 12th studio albumThe Life of a Showgirldropped Oct. 3, andWilliam Shakespearebuffs will relish in the title of the first track "The Fate of Ophelia" and accompanying music video, inspired by the tragic playHamlet(circa 1599-1601). In the song, Swift sings of her heart being saved "from the fate of Ophelia," an apparent reference to her fiancé,Travis Kelce. "And if you'd never come for me," goes the song. "I might've drowned in the melancholy." The titular Ophelia is known in Shakespeare'sHamletfor tragically drowning after enduring rejection by Hamlet and his murder of her father. The line in Swift's song andThe Life of a Showgirl's cover art appears to be inspired by a Victorian-era painting that depicts the scene inHamletwhen Ophelia goes crazy and falls into a stream and drowns after learning Hamlet killed her father. Back then, it was trendy to paint scenes from William Shakespeare plays, and Ophelia was a popular subject. John Everett Millais depicts "Ophelia" floating in a stream, her head and chest above water and the rest of her body submerged. According to the Tate collection in the UK, artist Elizabeth Siddal posed for Millais over a four month period in a bath full of water kept warm by lamps underneath. Millais covered her body with flowers that signify love, pain, innocence, and faithfulness. The painting also inspiredHamletadaptations by Laurence Olivier (1948) andKenneth Branagh(1996), as well as a 1995 music video for "Where The Wild Roses Grow" byKylie Minogueand Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. The art news websiteArtNeteven pointed out that the scene in season 3 ofWhite Lotusin whichWalton GogginsandAimee Lou Woodsare floating dead in the water appears to invoke the Millais painting. Arguably the most famous depiction of Ophelia in pop culture in recent years is the 2019 filmOphelia, which reimaginedHamletfrom Ophelia's point of view, with Daisy Ridley starring as Ophelia. Swift acknowledged theHamletreference when she was previewing the album during an interview on herKelce'spodcast,joking, "He may not have readHamlet,but I explained it to him, so he knows what happened." Write toOlivia B. Waxman atolivia.waxman@time.com.
