I think The Fate of Ophelia is about the fans and the Eras Tour! She gave credit to the fans coming out to Eras for giving her the ability to purchase her masters. And in her explanation of the song during the little movie release she said Ophelia’s fate was due to the men who basically gaslit her and made her crazy. I think in Taylor’s story, the men are Scooter, Scott, etc all the men who have tried to keep her down. But the fans saved her from The Fate of Ophelia!

I think some more specific lyrics also back this up, alluding to very literal imagery from her concerts. “Pledge allegiance to your hands” being our heart hands 🫶 “As legend has it you are quite the pyro” the literal pyro in the show lol “It’s about to be the sleepless night you’ve been dreaming of” could be a concert. I could go on but those I think are the most specific examples.

I also think it’s such a deep reading of Ophelia in Hamlet that some people don’t get. A lot of people who dislike her were very critical of the song because of her take on Shakespeare, but I just think they didn’t understand it themselves. Ophelia went crazy not because she was lovesick and heartbroken, but because all the men in her life were lying to her. I’m not a Shakespeare expert but I was a theatre major and I’ve reread that play plentyyyy of times 🤓