Ophelia, more or less. Intersemiotic reinterpretations of a Shakespearean character

Abstract

Abstract Ophelia, Shakespeare’s most tragic heroine, seems to be the character who has generated much more enthusiasm on the part of visual artists than on the part of literary critics. Consequently, there are a high number of artefacts, produced starting with the nineteenth century, which have been inspired by Hamlet’s unfortunate bride. Of this assortment of artefacts, we have picked some to deal with here. In analysing them, we survey through the history of the heroine’s representation in various visual media, comment on them from the point of view of intersemiotic translation, and verify, in broad lines, the hypothesis that they may be tributary to a number of factors ranging from some connected to the artist’s own identity and subjective interpretation of the original to factors connected to more general stereotypes, beliefs, attitudes, and socio-cultural trends.