Sarah Nies
Ls 521                                                                                                                                               
3/20/02
drop-in 4
                                                 The Face of   Ophelia
Introduction: The name Ophelia has been used for women's groups and the realization of how some women are trapped into being silent.  Well, although Ophelia may have died a tragic death in Hamlet, her image still lives on in the artwork and writings of many.  Her story has been a source of inspiration and intrigue for many years and it will be the subject of our activity today.

Information:  We have watched several excerpts from the different versions of the play Hamlet and we discovered that there are many ways in which the artist may choose to render a certain event or character.  Shakespeare's plays are wonderful examples because so many people have represented them or aspects of them, with their own unique style.  Today we are going to view two pre-Raphealite paintings of Ophelia by different artists and we will distinguish between the similarities and differences between their work, and their artistic expression.  Use the worksheet provided to diagram what you observe. The following website contains both portraits of Ophelia.  Look for her underlined name and click on it.
                           Ophelia website

Assignment:  Use the worksheet to compare and contrast between the two paintings of Ophelia.  This should give you another taste of how each artist can represent a subject in their own style while remaining true to the essence of the subject matter.