The True Fate of Ophelia

As Taylor Swift’s lead single, “The Fate of Ophelia,” continues to dominate the charts, Shakespeare buffs are raising questions about whether the songwriter’s portrayal of the female character is accurate. 

Swift’s lovelorn song depicts Ophelia as a woman driven to her death due to an unrequited love. Her references to towers and a fantastical imagination confuse listeners who don’t remember the character as such a romantic figure in literature. This inaccuracy leaves fans with only one question: what really happened to Ophelia?

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Ophelia is introduced as the play’s protagonist, Hamlet’s love interest and the daughter of Polonius, a nobleman of Denmark. As the story progresses, Ophelia becomes a pawn between the King and her father. She is used to spy on Hamlet after he feigns madness to expose the King for killing his father. Ophelia’s unfortunate descent into being controlled by the men in her life reduces her identity to a plaything, leaving her with no agency to speak for herself as a woman and a human. 

Throughout the play, Ophelia’s womanhood becomes policed and berated, as her father and brother treat her virginity as a material good reflective of her value after they hear of her relationship with Hamlet. Hamlet himself also equates Ophelia’s femininity with weakness, as he links women and frailty as part of one identity.

In a sense, Ophelia decides to reclaim her independence by pretending to have her own crazed episodes, singing songs of love, death, and betrayal that are seemingly nonsensical to most but wildly exposing to others. This attempt at control, however, is left unnoticed as she becomes pitied, objectified, and even eroticized by the end of the story. 

Ophelia’s story comes to an end with a tragic drowning. A death most likely by suicide. This is the only control she truly has over life—the most logical decision in a world that only offers her two choices: obedient girl or madwoman. Though many believe Ophelia’s death was purely driven by grief, others hypothesize a potential pregnancy after an intimate moment with Hamlet.

This is hinted at when Hamlet tells her to “get thee to a nunnery”, either referring to a convent for nuns or a brothel, a place of sexual sin. It’s also hinted in the lyrics of Ophelia’s song, where she refers to herself as a maid (virgin) given to Hamlet, never to leave again. Though this is only one interpretation of the story, it adds introspection to Ophelia, an iconic female character who is constantly at risk of romanticization in pop culture, as seen in Swift’s new record, The Life of A Showgirl. 

Though Swift’s reimagining of Ophelia may captivate listeners with its fun melody, it’s essential to understand the context of these iconic literary characters. It gives listeners a better understanding of why people should care about the lyrics and where these references come from. Ophelia’s tale is one of resistance and ultimate loss. Her wish for control in her life drove her to inexplicable ends. Though her story is one of tragedy, it also reflects the lives of women who exist under someone else’s thumb, making Ophelia one of the most essential characters in literature yet. 

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