Hamlet and Ophelia — Compositional Sketch, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)

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Hamlet and Ophelia — Compositional Sketch

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)

1854

Pencil on paper

24.4 x 33.9 cm

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Here are two souls in torment: a tense Ophelia tries to shield herself from Hamlet, unwilling to bear his tortured and torturing demands on her. Even in this rough sketch, Rossetti captures, by their very postures, the psychological trauma afflicting them both.

Representations of Ophelia