Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” Has Major Hamlet Energy — And I Love It!
Last weekend, I was invited to go with a close friend and her four daughters — girls I’ve known their entire lives. Their excitement was contagious (mine and my friend’s too!). Being there, watching their joy, seeing the power of girlhood and confidence in full force — it reminded me how important it is to raise girls who celebrate each other, include others, and use their voices without fear. No “mean girl” energy, just love, laughter, and loud singing. 💕
And oh, did we sing!
But as much as I loved the moment, the literature nerd in me couldn’t help myself. As a lifelong lover of Shakespeare (I’ve probably read Hamlet fifty times!), I started catching references in Taylor Swift’s lyrics that lined up perfectly with the play’s themes.
Take “The Fate of Ophelia.” I’m convinced it can be read from the point of view of Laertes (Ophelia’s brother) to Hamlet — a challenge and a promise of revenge.
“It’s about to be the sleepless night you’ve been dreaming of.”
That’s straight out of Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy — his wish for sleep, for death, for peace.
Laertes wants revenge for Hamlet killing their father, Polonius, and for driving Ophelia into madness. The lyrics line up perfectly with her funeral scene:
“You dug me out of my grave” — he literally jumps into her grave!
“And if you'd never come for me, I might've lingered in purgatory…” evokes the same haunted grief and vengeance.
And when he says, “Don't care where the hell you been, ’cause now you're mine,” that’s pure Laertes — a man manipulated into vengeance, proclaiming his intent to destroy Hamlet for all that’s been lost.
Dang, Taylor Swift! I thought it was just a sweet song about Travis at first. 🧡🩵
But then I kept listening, and now I can’t unsee the Shakespeare connections.
“CANCELLED!” feels like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern — Hamlet’s backstabbing friends — with their “matching scars” from their doomed fates.
“Wood” echoes Ophelia’s madness scene, full of veiled sexual innuendo and sorrow. Shakespeare’s Ophelia mentions daisies when she speaks of heartbreak:
“Daisy's bare naked, I was distraught / He loves me not, he loves me not.”
And “Father Figure” gives me King Claudius energy — the manipulative, power-hungry uncle who uses Laertes as a weapon against Hamlet. When Taylor sings,
“I’ll be your father figure / I drink that brown liquor / I can make deals with the devil…”
it sounds exactly like Claudius — charming, corrupt, and destructive.
I absolutely love that Taylor Swift is bringing Shakespearean themes into pop culture, whether intentionally or not. It’s art talking to art, centuries apart — tragedy and poetry wrapped in melody.
Bravo, Taylor. 🎭🧡🩵
Who knew Hamlet and The Tortured Poets Department could be such perfect companions!
