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Hamlet character
Ophelia 1894.jpg
John William Waterhouse's painting
Ophelia (1894)
Created by William Shakespeare
In-universe information
Family Polonius (father)
Laertes (brother)




Like most characters in Hamlet, Ophelia's name is not Danish. It first appeared in Jacopo Sannazaro's 1504 poem Arcadia (as Ofelia), probably derived from Ancient Greek ὠφέλεια (ōphéleia, "benefit"). [1] [2]


Hamlet, Act IV, Scene V (Ophelia Before the King and Queen), Benjamin West, 1792 Hamlet, Act IV, Scene V (ophelia Before The King And Queen), Benjamin West, 1792.jpg



The plan leads to what is commonly called the "Nunnery Scene", [6] from its use of the term nunnery which would generally refer to a convent, but at the time was also popular slang for a brothel. [7] Polonius instructs Ophelia to stand in the lobby of the castle while he and Claudius hide. Hamlet approaches Ophelia and talks to her, saying "Get thee to a nunnery." Hamlet asks Ophelia where her father is; she lies to him, saying her father must be at home. Hamlet realises he is being spied upon. He exits after declaring, "I say we will have no more marriages." Ophelia is left bewildered and heartbroken, sure that Hamlet is insane. After Hamlet storms out, Ophelia makes her "O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown" soliloquy.

Ophelia by John Everett Millais (1852) is part of the Tate Gallery collection. His painting influenced the image in Kenneth Branagh's film Hamlet. John Everett Millais - Ophelia - Google Art Project.jpg

The next time Ophelia appears is at the Mousetrap Play, [8] which Hamlet has arranged to try to prove that Claudius killed King Hamlet. Hamlet sits with Ophelia and makes sexually suggestive remarks; he also says that woman's love is brief.



Ophelia by Alexandre Cabanel Alexandre Cabanel, Ophelia.JPG
Ophelia by Alexandre Cabanel

In Act 4 Scene 7, Queen Gertrude reports that Ophelia had climbed into a willow tree (There is a willow grows aslant the brook), and that the branch had broken and dropped Ophelia into the brook, where she drowned. Gertrude says that Ophelia appeared "incapable of her own distress". Gertrude's announcement of Ophelia's death has been praised as one of the most poetic death announcements in literature. [12]

Later, a sexton at the graveyard insists Ophelia must have killed herself. [13] Laertes is outraged by what the cleric says, and replies that Ophelia will be an angel in heaven when the cleric "lie[s] howling" in hell.



Mary Catherine Bolton (later Lady Thurlow) (1790-1830) as Ophelia in 1813, opposite John Philip Kemble's Hamlet Mary Catherine Bolton as Ophelia 1813.jpg
Mary Catherine Bolton (later Lady Thurlow) (1790–1830) as Ophelia in 1813, opposite John Philip Kemble's Hamlet

In productions of Hamlet

While it is known that Richard Burbage played Hamlet in Shakespeare's time, there is no evidence of who played Ophelia; since there were no professional actresses on the public stage in Elizabethan England, we may assume that she was played by a boy. [14] The actor appears to have had some musical training, as Ophelia is given lines from ballads such as "Walsingham" to sing, and, according to the first quarto edition, enters with a lute. [15]


Gender-structured, too, was the early modern understanding of the distinction between Hamlet's madness and Ophelia's: melancholy was understood as a male disease of the intellect, while Ophelia would have been understood as suffering from erotomania, a malady conceived in biological and emotional terms. [18] This discourse of female madness influenced Ophelia's representation on stage from the 1660s, when the appearance of actresses in the English theatres first began to introduce "new meanings and subversive tensions" into the role: "the most celebrated of the actresses who played Ophelia were those whom rumor credited with disappointments in love". [19] Showalter relates a theatrical anecdote that vividly captures this sense of overlap between a performer's identity and the role she plays:

Soprano Mignon Nevada as Ophelia in the opera Hamlet, c. 1910. The operatic version simplifies the plot to focus the drama on Hamlet's predicament and its effects on Ophelia Mignon Nevada Ophelia2.jpg


During the 18th century, the conventions of Augustan drama encouraged far less intense, more sentimentalised and decorous depictions of Ophelia's madness and sexuality. From Mrs Lessingham in 1772 to Mary Catherine Bolton, playing opposite John Kemble in 1813, the familiar iconography of the role replaced its passionate embodiment. Sarah Siddons played Ophelia's madness with "stately and classical dignity" in 1785. [21]

Many great actresses have played Ophelia on stage over the years. In the 19th century, she was portrayed by Helen Faucit, Dora Jordan, Frances Abington, and Peg Woffington, who won her first real fame by playing the role. [22] Theatre manager Tate Wilkinson declared that next to Susannah Maria Cibber, Elizabeth Satchell (of the famous Kemble family) was the best Ophelia he ever saw. [23] The American scholar Tina Packer argued that Ophelia is trapped within the imprisoning world of the Danish court, and only by losing her mind can she escape. [24] Packer argued that Ophelia's problems stem from being too dutiful a daughter when she obeys her father in rejecting Hamlet and returning his gifts to him, as she is untrue to herself, thus settling herself up for her downfall. [24]

Frances MacDonald - Ophelia 1898 Frances MacDonald - Ophelia 1898.jpg
Frances MacDonaldOphelia 1898

In film

Ophelia has been portrayed on screen since the days of early silent films. Dorothy Foster played her opposite Charles Raymond's Hamlet in the 1912 film Hamlet . [25] Jean Simmons played Ophelia to Laurence Olivier's Oscar-winning Hamlet performance in 1948 and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. [26] More recently, Ophelia has been portrayed by Anastasiya Vertinskaya (1964), [27] Marianne Faithfull (1969), [28] Helena Bonham Carter (1990), [29] Kate Winslet (1996), Julia Stiles (2000), Mariah Gale (2009) and Daisy Ridley (2018). Themes associated with Ophelia have led to movies such as Ophelia Learns to Swim (2000) [30] and Dying Like Ophelia (2002).


In Vishal Bhardwaj's adaptation Haider (2014), the character was portrayed by actress Shraddha Kapoor. [31]

In art

Cultural references

Ophelia often appears in various cultural contexts, [32] including literature, music, film and television. A moon of Uranus is named after Ophelia. [33] Robert Schumann in 'Herzeleid' from 'Sechs Gesänge' (opus 107 nr 1; 1852) puts the poem of Titus Ullrich to music, which is dedicated to the figure of Ophelia, ending with her name sung twice.


  1. "ophelia - Origin and meaning of the name ophelia by Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com.
  2. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Ophelia". Behind the Name.
  3. Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3
  4. Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 1
  5. Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2
  6. Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1
  7. see Hamlet#Language
  8. Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 2
  9. Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 4
  10. Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5
  11. "Rue". Drugs.com . Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  13. Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 1
  15. Q1 has the direction, "Enter Ofelia playing on a Lute..."
  17. Gurr (1992, 193) and Showalter (1985, 80–81).
  18. Showalter (1985, 80–81).
  19. Showalter (1985, 80, 81).
  20. Showalter (1985, 81–82).
  21. Showalter (1985, 82).
  22. William Cullen Bryant & Evert A. Duyckinck (eds.), The Complete Works of Shakespeare, 1888
  23. Some aspects of provincial drama in the eighteenth centuryFrederick T. Wood English Studies, Volume 14, Issue 1 – 6 1932 (p. 73)
  24. 1 2 Packer, Tina (2015). Women of Will: Following the Feminine in Shakespeare's Plays. New York City: Alfred Knopf. p. 190. ASIN   B00N6PCXS8.
  25. "Hamlet (1912)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  26. "Hamlet". Variety. 12 May 1948. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  27. Crowther, Bosley (15 September 1964). "Film Festival: Regal Soviet 'Hamlet':Capacity Crowd Fills Philharmonic Hall". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  28. Greenspun, Roger (22 December 1969). "Williamson as 'Hamlet':Richardson Film Based on Debated Version". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  29. "Ophelia Is No Passive Wimp, Helena Bonham-Carter Believes". Los Angeles Times . 22 December 1990. ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  30. "Ophelia Learns to Swim". British Universities Film & Video Council . Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  31. Gilbey, Ryan (14 October 2014). "To pout or not to pout: Hamlet goes Bollywood". New Statesman . Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  32. Harris, Jonathan Gil (2010). Shakespeare and Literary Theory. Oxford University Press. p. 118. ISBN   9780199573387 . Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  33. "Uranus Moons". NASA Solar System Exploration. Retrieved 16 July 2019.

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