Ophelia

Illustration for the tragedy of William Shakespeare "Hamlet".
The artist reproduced the scene described by the Queen, Hamlet's mother. She describes what happened as an accident:

Where the willow grows above the water, bathing
Silver foliage in the water, she
Came there in fancy garlands
Buttercup, nettle and chamomile,
And those colors that he roughly calls
The people, and the girls call with fingers
The dead. She's her wreaths
I thought to hang on the willow branches,
But the branch broke. Into the crying stream
The poor woman fell with flowers. Dress,
Widely blooming on the water,
She was held like a mermaid ...
(William Shakespeare. "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark")

Ophelia is depicted singing sorrowful songs, half submerged in water.
The depiction of vegetation on the bank and flowers in the river - "fancy garlands" that Ophelia has woven, have their own symbolic meaning.
According to the language of flowers, buttercups are a symbol of ingratitude or infantilism, a weeping willow bent over a girl is a symbol of rejected love, nettles represent pain, daisy flowers near the right hand symbolize innocence, Plakun-grass in the upper right corner of the picture are Shakespeare's “fingers of the dead”, or purple flowers, Roses are traditionally a symbol of love and beauty, in addition, one of the heroes calls Ophelia "rose of May"; meadowsweet in the left corner can express the meaninglessness of Ophelia's death; forget-me-nots growing on the shore are a symbol of loyalty; scarlet and poppy-like adonis, floating near the right hand, symbolizes grief.

London. Tate Gallery