The Silencing of Ophelia

Nov 22, 2025 · by Editor

I know why she went
Into the forest
She floated freely

Until she floundered
Betrayed crushed and abandoned
By her impotent prince

Fettered by her father's
Insipid patriarchal platitudes
Giant pebbles pulling down her pockets

The muddy water seemed deep
But the polluted stagnant pond
Failed to support her feminine form

A nunnery would only
Prolong her pain
Being silenced hurts more

Than drowning

Brooke RaNae Palmer is a badass homemaker, big thinker, voracious reader, stained glass artist, mother of four, loving nana, a Jane of all trades and master of many, and last but not least, a happy farmwife. Book Rec: Holy Envy by Barbara Brown Taylor

Artwork by Brooke RaNae Palmer:

ARTIST STATEMENT

The Silencing of Ophelia
Tiffany-style stained glass (triptych), 19.25 x 8.5 in.

I imagined Ophelia sinking in a lovely, but stagnant pond. I started with a full profile of her face, but realized that not only was she drowning, she was also being silenced, so I made her hair cover her mouth. The bottom and top panels of the triptych represent escape, but the middle panel represents the present. Pink glass speaks to me at a core level, so I used it for the water lily to remind me that I can find beauty floating above the stagnation. As I worked, I thought about other stories where the patriarchy fails the characters and immediately thought of Peter Pan. The second star to the right is a nod to that timeless tale. Spending time creating both the poem and the stained glass became a way to express my own deep pain that has been silenced over the years.

Brooke RaNae Palmer (@glassicalstainedglass)

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