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Ophelia

By John Everett Millais


John Everett Millais's "Ophelia" depicts the death of Ophelia from Shakespeare's "Hamlet," showing her floating in the water shortly before she drowns. Millais painted the landscape outdoors along the Hogsmill River near Ewell in Surrey, England, carefully reproducing the plants growing along its banks. Working so closely with nature was not always pleasant: he endured bad weather and insects and once narrowly avoided being ordered off the land for trespassing. The detailed vegetation reflects the ideals of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which emphasized close observation of nature, while many of the flowers also carry symbolic meanings connected with Ophelia and her death.

For Ophelia herself, Millais used 19-year-old Elizabeth Siddal, who later became an artist and the wife of fellow Pre-Raphaelite Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Siddal posed fully clothed in a bathtub in Millais's studio, with lamps underneath intended to keep the water warm; according to the famous story, the lamps went out and she became ill after continuing to pose in the cold water. Despite its later fame, "Ophelia" received some harsh reviews when exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1852. Critics objected to its unusual realism and abundance of natural detail, with one famously dismissing its setting as a "weedy ditch." The qualities that puzzled some Victorian viewers, however, are now among the reasons "Ophelia" is considered one of the most famous works of the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

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1. Author a quiz in one of the following sub-categories:
   
   Shakespeare (Literature)
   Death Becomes Them (People)
   Hamlet (Literature)
   Shakespeare Lines and Quotes (Literature)
   Celebrity Deaths (Celebrities)
   Name the Play (Literature)
   Death in Movies (Movies)
   U.S. Presidential Deaths (World)
   Last Words & Epitaphs (People)
   Bible Life and Death (Religion)
   Death Around the World (World)
   Character Deaths (Television)
   Shakespeare Characters (Literature)
   Thematic Death (General)
   Literary Death (Literature)
   Life & Death in Video Games (Video Games)
   
   Quiz must reside precisely in one of these; not in a sub-category of one of these
   
   
2. Quiz title contains exactly 1 words.
   
   
   
3. Author a quiz containing exactly 15 questions.
   
   

Get one quiz online this month meeting at least one of the requirements above and you will get an unframed version of this painting added to your Authoring Gallery!

Get at least two quizzes online this month, meeting all three requirements amongst all of your submissions to get a framed version of this painting added to your gallery.

Only quiz templates created during September are considered for this award.

Since editing timing is uncertain, eligible quiz templates placed online during September OR next month count. In other words, if you start work on a quiz in January, but after some back-and-forth with editors it ends up delayed and goes online in February, you will still earn January's painting award.

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