Hamlet: Prince of Denmark
Not on view
Influenced by the innovative graphic artist Aubrey Beardsley, Austen devised striking black-and-white illustrations for this luxury edition of Hamlet. These two images, placed at the start of act 5, encapsulate the tragedy’s dramatic conclusion. At left, Hamlet stands in a trance by the grave of his rejected lover, Ophelia, with disembodied heads of the departed floating above near the skull he famously contemplates in the play. At right, the bodies of the prince and Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, lie limply together after their fatal duel.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
