Ophelia Explained: Why Taylor Swift Reimagines Shakespeare in ‘The Life of a Showgirl’

The lack of backstory for Ophelia, of point of view or inner monologue, has left her vulnerable to projection over time. Everything from her image to her clothing to her words to the play as a whole has been subject to artistic reimagining, whether on the stage or in film depictions like Hamlet (2000, starring Ethan Hawke and Julia Stiles) and Ophelia (2018, starring Daisy Ridley), or in other media, like the video game Elsinore.

Swift is now part of that history of representation. What she takes from the character is illuminating for understanding both The Life of a Showgirl and its predecessor The Tortured Poets Department, and the stories Swift has been drawn to for nearly two decades. More than anything, Swift’s invocation of Ophelia makes sense because what is Swift’s public image if not an unfinished canvas, one that her fans continue to color in with their own projections?

Who Is Ophelia? Why Might She Matter to Taylor Swift?

In Hamlet, Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius, the chief advisor to King Claudius (Hamlet’s uncle), and sister of Laertes. The play indicates early on that Ophelia and Hamlet previously had some sort of romance, though there aren’t many details. (“The question about the level of their relationship… is really ripe for other artists to imagine or reimagine,” Smith notes.) Meanwhile, Hamlet’s father, the previous King of Denmark, is dead, and his ghost comes back to tell Hamlet that Claudius murdered him and that Hamlet should seek revenge on Claudius for killing his brother and marrying his brother’s wife, Gertrude (Hamlet’s mother), in quick succession.

This task, to be fair, does not leave much time for romantic endeavors. Hamlet’s anger and grief cloud his love for Ophelia, sidelining her needs and emotions. When Ophelia argues in Act III, Scene I, that he’s led her on, that he made her believe he loved her, Hamlet is brutal and self-effacing in these iconic words: “I did love you once,” he says, before contradicting himself. “You should not have believed me… I loved you not… Get thee to a nunnery/Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?” His thirst for vengeance crops Ophelia out of the picture.