7 Easter eggs and references you probably missed in Taylor Swift’s ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ music video

The music video for Taylor Swift’s track The Fate of Ophelia premiered online on October 5, 2025, just two days after its limited theatrical debut, as reported by Variety on October 5, 2025. The music video, reportedly directed by Swift herself, serves as the first visual release from her new album The Life of a Showgirl.

Supposed to be inspired by Shakespeare's early 17th-century play Hamlet, the track reimagines the female lead Ophelia’s tragic fate in a way that Taylor Swift described as "you saved me from that fate" in an interview with Capital FM earlier in October, as reported by Elle, October 6, 2025, adding that it was "very dramatic."

"it’s all very dramatic, obviously, because it’s me."

Taylor Swift appears as multiple versions of a “showgirl” through time, including a Pre-Raphaelite muse to a 1940s film star and modern pop performer, according to Variety, as she wanted to explore how "you could be a showgirl.”

“How you would be in the public eye back during the 1800s, when you’d sit for a Pre-Raphaelite painting. Or you could be a showgirl by being a cabaret burlesque club performer. You could be a theatrical actor putting on a performance. You could a Vegas showgirl. You could be one of the girls in the Busby Berkeley screen-siren era of the ‘30s and ‘40s. You could be a pop singer on the Eras Tour.”

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Seven major Easter eggs from Taylor Swift's The Fate of Ophelia music video, as spotted by ELLE.

1. Taylor Swift referenced several paintings of Ophelia

The video opens with Swift reimagining Friedrich Wilhelm Theodor Heyser’s 1900 painting The Death of Ophelia, one of the earliest visual tributes to Shakespeare’s doomed heroine, according to ELLE on October 6, 2025.

Later in the video, Taylor Swift also channels multiple paintings in a single setpiece. She appears in a gown styled after Arthur Hughes’s 1865 painting Ophelia (“And He Will Not Come Back Again”) while rowing through a tableau inspired by William Etty’s 1837 painting The Sirens and Ulysses

Taylor Swift's reference to The Sirens and Ulysses (1837) and Arthur Hughes’s Ophelia (“And He Will Not Come Back Again") (Image via X/@taylorswift13)

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2. The freed bird

Taylor Swift incorporates several symbolic props in one of the initial sequences of The Fate of Ophelia music video, notably an orange bird.

According to ELLE, fans connected the orange bird to her Look What You Made Me Do video, where she appeared in an orange cage. The freed bird here allegedly suggests artistic renewal.

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3. Bread, Taylor Swift's cat, and The Life of a Showgirl

Some of the other props that can be seen are a loaf of bread, a pearl necklace, a peach, and a cat statue resembling Swift's cat Olivia Benson.

The Freed Bird, Sourdough Loaf, and Familiar Cat (Image via Youtube)

The loaf of sourdough may be a link to Swift’s personal life, according to ELLE and Variety. Behind the scenes, she confirmed that she baked the bread herself, telling the production crew, “Can it be my bread? Can my bread be in the music video?” Variety reported.

The pearl and peach reportedly refer to lyrics from The Life of a Showgirl, including “I took her pearls of wisdom” and “You’re sweeter than a peach.”

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4. Homage to Marilyn Monroe

Midway through the video, Taylor Swift is seen in a platinum-blonde look like that of Marilyn Monroe. As ELLE reported, this is a nod to the archetypal showgirl and a commentary on fame’s tragic glamour. Her longtime Eras Tour dancers join her in these sequences.

Swift paid homage to Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe (Image via X/@taylorswift13)

According to Variety, Swift said she wanted to depict “all these different ways you could be a showgirl through history.” This Monroe-inspired interlude places her in Hollywood in the 1950s.

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5. References to fiancé, Travis Kelce

One of the most personal Easter eggs appears early backstage: a photo of Taylor Swift’s fiancé, Travis Kelce, tucked into her mirror. ELLE reports that the image references a 2016 video of Kelce playing “marry, kiss, kill,” in which he chose Swift as his “kiss.”

Though Kelce himself does not appear in the video, Variety confirmed that a football cameo replaces a direct appearance. During the line “Pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes,” Swift catches a football before entering room #87, matching Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs jersey number.

Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs in action during the NFL 2025 game against the New York Giants (Image via Getty)

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6. Kitty Finlay and the Family Connection

During a backstage transition, a clapperboard labeled Kitty Finlay is seen in the video. According to ELLE, the name references both her The Life of a Showgirl character and her maternal lineage, with Finlay being the singer's mother’s maiden name.

Taylor Swift’s grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, was an opera singer- another kind of "showgirl", as ELLE reports. The popstar also paid tribute to her grandmother in her 2020 track titled Marjorie, as reported by Rolling Stone in December 2020.

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7. The Bathtub Scene and Oscar Reference

The closing image of The Fate of Ophelia recreates yet another painting- John Everett Millais’s 1852 painting Ophelia (1852). In the closing scenes of the music video, Taylor Swift is seen partially submerged in a bathtub, wearing full glam attire.

In its October 5, 2025, report, Variety confirmed that the final shot is a reference to both the Life of a Showgirl album cover and the famous 1852 painting that inspired it. Taylor Swift reportedly said,

"wanted to match the framing ideally to the album cover and kind of just frame it exactly like that, so that people are like, ‘Oh, so the cover is a reference to the Ophelia painting, and this ending is a reference to the cover.’ So, art history for pop fans!"

An Oscar statuette is seen on the bathroom floor beside her as she "drowns" in the bathtub, akin to the fate of Ophelia. This is reportedly also a reference to the track Wi$h Li$t, which includes the lyrics,

"They want that critical smash Palme d’Or / And an Oscar on their bathroom floor.”

An Oscar seen next to the bathtub in the closing scenes of The Fate of Ophelia (Image via YouTube)

According to Variety, in Swift’s reinterpretation, Ophelia no longer drowns, and the "hook" is that she was saved. The Fate of Ophelia is the second time Taylor Swift has reimagined the tragic endings of Shakespeare's characters- the first time being her 2008 hit Love Story, which referenced Romeo and Juliet.

Edited by Devangee