Tracing Ophelia from Millais to Contemporary Art: Literary, Pictorial and Digital Icons
Since the 1980s, John Everett Millais’s emblematic oil painting, Ophelia (1851–1852) has been remarkably framed by feminist discourses on gender that convincingly demonstrated how the representation of female death could be linked to patriarchal tradition whose underlying discourse was to tame, cont...
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| Published in: | Cahiers victoriens & édouardiens 2019-06, Vol.89 (89 Spring), p.1-12 |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Since the 1980s, John Everett Millais’s emblematic oil painting, Ophelia (1851–1852) has been remarkably framed by feminist discourses on gender that convincingly demonstrated how the representation of female death could be linked to patriarchal tradition whose underlying discourse was to tame, control and ultimately objectify women. More recently, further investigation of the Shakespearean character as it resurfaced in literature, film and cinema has brought to light the inherent contradictions relating to her very nature: the more Ophelia is represented and made visible in literature and the arts, the more she seems to be vanishing. Starting with the emblematic Pre-Raphaelite painting, this article aims to establish a critical dialogue between works of various periods and various media, ranging from the Victorian era to the present day to demonstrate the mutations and persistence of Millais’s icon. |
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| ISSN: | 0220-5610 2271-6149 |