This week our class visited the Tate Britain. We looked at the founding artists, Millais, Rossetti, and Hunt; observing how their works segregated themselves from the ‘rules’ of composition and tones. The works were set aside from others of the time in terms of the story they told.
The piece that captured my attention was “Ophelia” by John Everett Millais. Having just come out of high school and studied Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the content of the work stood out to me. Unlike other works, this one I was able to understand right away. There was no need to observe it for long in order to understand what is going on in the piece. The woman floating in the water is in fact Ophelia, Hamlet’s distressed lover, who dies drowning herself.
Like other Pre Raphaelite artworks, this piece encompasses a strong sense of nature, probably more than most other works. The colours are vivid, creating a sense of tranquility in the work, despite the somewhat demoralizing subject. The flowers also touch on the peaceful tone, however they are also seem relevant to the play, Hamlet, in which Ophelia’s madness leads to her ill-sounding speeches about flowers. Ophelia lies peacefully in the water; her hands are delicately raised above the water and her eyes half open. It is the scenery around Ophelia that allows the sense of peace to be maintained as if the focus was on her face the piece would be composed of a different tone.
The detail in the nature around Ophelia is extremely visible, which is also a notable characteristic in the Pre Raphaelite’s doctrines. Her clothing is the dullest colour in the whole piece, which may also symbolize the lack of life in her body. The expression of lines within the piece is evident. Ophelia lies horizontally in relation to the piece, as does the tree behind her. The bottom left side however, encompasses vertical lines as the plant shoots up from the ground. The vertical lines of the plant lead the viewer’s eyes to Ophelia’s face and gives the sense that she is being ‘boxed in.’
Unlike most other Pre Raphaelite works, the detail of this piece is mostly in the background, and the lack thereof lies in the foreground. Most of the other works I have observed give focus to the foreground in terms of detail and make the backgrounds less dimensional. This separates this piece from other of the Pre Raphaelites. Likewise, this piece does not contain religious statement, as is commonly seen in Pre Raphaelite work.
The focal point is not directly obvious, as all the aspects of this piece seem to stand out in different ways; the lack of dimension also contributes to this. This piece is unique both in its story as well as its composition and allows viewers to consistently question the Pre Raphaelite’s doctrines.
-Charlotte & Kasey
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