in 1827 berlioz went to a performance of shakespeare’s play "hamlet". it was played in english by a theatre group from england. berlioz fell in love with irish actress harriet smithson who played the part of ophelia, he did not actually meet her, he just saw her acting on stage, but he sent her lots of love letters, but she left paris without meeting him. he then wrote his symphonie fantastique. he then wrote the symphony to describe his love for her and his unhappiness because she was not interested in him. when harriet heard the symphony two years after it was first performed, she realized that it was a symphony about her. she eventually met berlioz and they were married on 3 october 1833. for several years the marriage was happy, although they did not speak one another’s language. however, after nine years they separated.