Shakespeare might not have made Ophelia the main character, but it seems Taylor Swift is putting the heroine center stage on her 12th album, “The Life of a Showgirl.”
On the Aug. 13 episode of the “New Heights” podcast, Swift noted that “Hamlet” played a role in her newest era. And there’s an argument to be made that the cover art and first title track, “The Fate of Ophelia,” point towards the dark destiny of Hamlet’s love interest.
“(Travis) may not have read ‘Hamlet’, but I explained it to him,” Swift said on the two hour podcast.
“Don’t tell my middle school English teacher,” Travis Kelce added to which Jason Kelce added, “SparkNotes.”
“It’s all right, I watched ‘The Lion King,'” Travis responded and Jason replied, “Wait, ‘Lion King’ is based off of Hamlet.'”
Swift, emphatically replied, “Yes.”
What was the fate of Ophelia in ‘Hamlet’?
If you haven’t read “Hamlet” or forgot the plot, here’s a brief synopsis. Ophelia is a young noblewoman whose fate is controlled by three men: Hamlet, the prince; Polonius, her father; and Laertes, her brother.
The love story between Ophelia and Hamlet collapses under pressure from her family and the rot of the Danish court. Hamlet kills her father and becomes emotionally distant. At times, he is cruel towards her. She descends into madness, and in Act IV, Scene VII, Queen Gertrude – the only other woman in the original play – delivers the news that Ophelia fell from a willow tree into a brook. Her clothes drag her under to her death.
Whether the death was self-inflicted or by accident is ambiguous. Literary experts can argue both angles, but her heartbreak is undeniable.
Swift may depict the Shakespeare scene with a modern twist. “Willow” is a song she wrote on her “Evermore” album at the time she was dating Joe Alwyn. The English actor cowrote three songs under the pseudonym William Bowery on that album: “Champagne Problems,” “Coney Island” and “Evermore.” Swift and Alwyn broke up before the Eras Tour and the singer referenced in her 11th era, “The Tortured Poets Department,” that she could doing the record-shattering show with a broken heart.
She – like Ophelia – fell out of the “Willow” tree.
‘We never painted by the numbers baby’
In the 19th Century in London, Sir John Everett Millais painted “Ophelia.”
The Pre-Raphaelite artist took inspiration from “Hamlet” and splashed oil-based paint onto a canvas culminating in a masterpiece. Ophelia is seen with her head slightly above water in the moment before her demise. Swift’s album cover is a present-day take of her in a bathtub. Her cat eye and bold red lip are just above the water line, while her body and sequined outfit is submerged.
Taylor Swift announced her 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” will drop Oct. 3.
There has been no confirmation of what the first track on “Showgirl” is about, but where Ophelia’s and Swift’s fates diverge is what happens next. No. 13 (Swift’s favorite number) met No. 87 (Kelce’s jersey number). The two add up to 100.
The ending is one that Ophelia never got and maybe the placement on the album is setting the scene for the pop-infused, upbeat and happy album that Swift said mirrored where she’s at in life.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Taylor Swift’s ‘Fate of Ophelia’ song may be ‘Hamlet’-coded
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