The scene depicted is from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Act IV, Scene vii, in which Ophelia, driven out of her mind when her father is murdered by her lover Hamlet, falls into a stream and drowns:
There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
Tate UK
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke;
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide,
And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up;
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes,
As one incapable of her own distress,
Or like a creature native and indued
Unto that element; but long it could not be
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pull’d the poor wretch from her melodious lay
To muddy death.
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The Story of Ophelia at Tate UK
Sir John Everett Millais at smarthistory
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~Sunnyside
At Sunnyside - Where Truth and Beauty Meet 
Thats a very beautiful paint. The colors matching the scene as well as the point of the story. Very talented painter.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts, janicetv. 🙂
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A tragedy all round. Fabulous painting however.
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Yes…a sad story. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Vivienne.
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I used to have, and may still have, a note card with this painting on it. I might even have got it at the Tate in the 1990s.
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Thanks for visiting, Steve. 🙂
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Fascinating.
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Thanks for visiting, Anna. 🙂
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We watched this video today. Such a sad story. I had an interesting discussion with my daughter after this video–about women. Interesting that the commentator buys in with the modern version of what greatness is–and does not place any value on motherhood and children–as if those roles prevent a woman from greatness. However, Jesus said, those who wish to be great among you, must serve others—by that definition–most women are great.
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