One of Megan Fox’s earliest tattoos is the quote on her right shoulder blade, adapted from Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear. If you don’t recognize the quote, it’s because Megan Fox changed the wording to apply more directly to herself. Read more to learn about the Megan Fox’s tattoo meaning and how it relates to her role in Hollywood!

Megan Fox Shakespeare Quote

Megan Fox’s most visible and well-known tattoo is probably the Shakespeare tattoo on her back that refers to Act V, Scene III of King Lear. Megan Fox’s back tattoo reads “We will all laugh at gilded butterflies,” and, although it is not a word-for-word translation, it’s pretty darn close to the real thing. The actual quote from the Shakespeare tragedy reads, “So we’ll live / And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh / At gilded butterflies…” The actress is known for changing tattoos to make them fit her personality though, and Megan Fox’s back tattoo is no exception. The tattoo on Megan Fox’s back is inked in attractive Old English text and is located on her right shoulder blade in plain view on most occasions.

Megan Fox Tattoo Meaning

When asked about the meaning of her back tattoo Megan Fox said, “to not get too caught up in Hollywood because people will end up laughing at you.” Well, that’s certainly straight to the point. According to one interpretation of Shakespeare’s King Lear quote, King Lear himself was betrayed by two of his daughters who had always pretended to love him, smiling like “gilded butterflies.” Butterflies are already beautiful creatures, and since gilded means covered in a thin layer of gold, butterflies who are gilded cannot fly. For this reason, some people think that Megan Fox’s back tattoo means that those who crave and achieve fame and fortune lose their freedom and end up being mocked in the long run.

Megan Fox Tattoos

Tattoos obviously mean a lot to Megan Fox, and she considers tattooing an art form, as many other celebrities do. In fact, Megan says, “I’m an artist also, and I sketch up all of my own tattoos. As lame as it sounds, it really is a form of expression for me.” Megan feels so strongly about her tats that she has famously said she will give up Hollywood completely if she ever doesn’t get a role because of her tattoos. According to Megan Fox, every time she gets a tattoo she is basically rebelling against the world, particularly her mother who doesn’t believe she should be inking up her body. More specifically, Megan Fox said, “My tattoos are a little f-you to anyone who tells me not to.” Megan was raised by her mother and step-father for the majority of her childhood, and attended Catholic school for twelve years during that time. Megan says she grew up in a “very strict” household, and only lived with her mother until she made enough money to support herself.

New Megan Fox Tattoos?

Since Megan Fox has so many tattoos at such a young age, many people have wondered how far she will take her appreciation for tats. According to Megan, “I don’t want to be one of those people who has their arms sleeved…but it’s something I really enjoy.” She continues, “So until I think I pushed it far enough, I’m going to keep getting them.” It seems Megan may have changed her mind about sleeves though; in 2009, she claimed that she intends to get a full sleeve arm tattoo, although she hasn’t done it yet. As Megan Fox looks into new tattoos, she has also considered removing some of the tattoos she already has inked on her body. Rumor has it that Megan Fox’s wrist tattoo of a tribal wave didn’t turn out exactly how she wanted, and she is considering getting it removed. Some people confirm Megan Fox tattoo removal stories, and say that she has also begun the process of removing the Marilyn Monroe tattoo on her forearm.