BN Harrison
I’m BN Harrison, the author of “The Unified Theory of Ophelia” and creator of Ophelia Theory, which serves as a permanent home for my writing and research on Ophelia narratives that escape literary containment to flourish in the wild.
I write fiction, memoir, historical nonfiction, and a buttload of fanfiction. I recently returned to my home state of North Carolina, where I work as a hospice caregiver. In my spare time, I make embroidery art and train a little in martial arts.
Essays
The OG Ophelia Essay is where you can read “The Unified Theory of Ophelia”, the 2015 essay that started it all.
“Ophelia, 42” is a sequel essay that analyzes the popular response to the original essay and contextualizes it in the framework of my lived experience. This essay will debut here on Ophelia Theory in spring 2026.
The Journals
The Journals contains transcripts of every journal entry I wrote between February 2001 and May 2003 concerning my relationship with my college mentor. They will go live in spring 2026, alongside “Ophelia, 42”.
I made the decision to publish my journals because my most trusted source for Ophelia Theory is my lived experience. My original college research paper on Ophelia was written under my mentor’s guidance. After his death in 2023, I received new information that recontextualized both my Ophelia research, and our entire relationship.
If you are interested in my journals, please bear in mind that they depict an intense relationship with a predatory authority figure. The journals are presented as supporting primary documents. You don’t have to read them in order to read the essays.
(In the future, the Journals section will also contain scans or photographs from the journals themselves.)
The Gallery
The Gallery is an ongoing project to collect as many instances of Ophelia Theory manifesting in the wild as possible.
I collect images of traditional art, contemporary art, memes, Tumblr aesthetic posts, and anything else I can find that interacts with Ophelia imagery in an interesting way. I’m especially interested in allusive Ophelia imagery in pop culture and media. I welcome suggestions and contributions from Ophelia spotters everywhere. If you have a suggestion, you can find me on Tumblr.