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| Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love. -- Hamlet's letter to Ophelia |
| I had no idea it was going to get this big. |
| This project was originally conceived as a page for my Fireside Tales section, but it wasn't long before I realized there was far too much material to fit in that context. It began (as so many things seem to) with Shakespeare, and with the familiar figure of Hamlet's poor tragic lady-love, who is driven mad by the madness going on around her, and who drowns in the brook with a song on her lips. |
| The next ingredient was my long-standing fascination with Pre-Raphaelite art, and with the circle of individuals who produced it. Ophelia was a favorite subject of theirs, as you'll soon see if you didn't already know. At one time I had notions of doing a website on the Pre-Raphaelites, but the lovely folk at WebMagick and The Germ have covered the subject far more thoroughly than I ever could. |
| The final catalyst was reading Mary Pipher's Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls, a standout amid the recent flood of pop psychology and women's studies. To Dr. Pipher, Ophelia is the symbol of the loss of identity that so often strikes girls as they reach adolescence and are pressured to define themselves by everyone's standards except their own. |
| As you'll see throughout this site, Ophelia has far more faces than those few. She is a potent identifying figure for women in general and teenage girls in particular, and she means something a little different to everyone. |
| The beauty of the Web is that works on it can constantly grow and evolve, and this site is no exception. If you have insights of your own about Ophelia, or know of materials I haven't included, please email me. I would love to include and/or link to them. |
| Blessings, WiliQueen |
| P.S.: If you're like me and always want to know more about the creator of a project, visit my home page, WiliQueen's Woods. |
Links to this site are always welcome. If you would like to use a banner or logo graphic, please feel free to take either of these.
(Each is only 6K, for the benefit of those whose server space is at a premium.)
