OPHELIA’s

UNDERWATER ADVENTURES

They say Ophelia, the tragic figure from Shakespeare's timeless drama Hamlet, symbolizes beauty amidst 'societal constraints'. Enter Prince Hamlet - total bastard - first he promised to marry her, then wants her taken to a nunnery. And then he kills her father! Enough to drive anyone mad. But... was Ophelia mad? Maybe she was just utterly sad. Although Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude describes Ophelia climbing a tree while attempting to hang a garland of flowers, falling into the water below, and being pulled down by the weight of her dress, many believed Ophelia to have committed suicide... but did she?

Anyway, Ophelia's demise was immortalized so wonderfully in the iconic painting of 19th-century Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais, depicting her sorrowful end in a stream, her watery fate symbolized as withdrawal and silencing of marginalized voices. 

Bebárdo would have none of it and came up with a post-drowning post-scriptum for Ophelia, resuscitated her and let her experience all kinds of deep-sea adventures with different sea creatures. Freed from societal pressure (read: treacherous princes), she finds her true self and actually blossoms in her new habitat.

With his background in painting and photography, Bebárdo drew inspiration from early German expressionist films and 1930's Hollywood silents, transforming Ophelia's journey from tragedy to triumph, perhaps encouraging viewers to take matters into their own hands in their own narratives as well. Finally important was to make the story more contemporary and relatable to people from all over the world.

'Ophelia' is an 1851–52 painting by British artist Sir John Everett Millais in the collection of Tate Britain, London. It depicts Ophelia, a character from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, singing before she drowns in a river. 

Ophelia was modelled by artist and muse Elizabeth Siddall, then 19 years old. Millais had Siddall (later an artist and poet herself) lie fully clothed in a full bathtub in London. As it was now winter, he placed oil lamps under the tub to warm the water, but was so intent on his work that he allowed them to go out. As a result, Siddall caught a severe cold, and her father later sent Millais a letter demanding £50 for medical expenses. According to Millais's son, he eventually accepted a lower sum.