The thesis examines Pre-Raphaelite depictions of female characters from Shakespeare’s plays, produced during the second half of the nineteenth and the early twentieth century. The research subjects are Ophelia (Hamlet), Mariana (Measure for Measure), and Miranda (The Tempest) by artists John Everett Millais, Arthur Hughes, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and John William Waterhouse. They used Shakespeare's female characters to explore one of the most prominent themes in Pre-Raphaelite art – the woman motif. They reinterpreted these characters in accordance with their own ideas and aesthetic ideals. In addition to presenting individual artworks, the thesis also mentions the broader social context of the Victorian era and the literary background.
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