Titania and Bottom (1790)
In class we looked into Shakespeare’s themes of monstrosity in “The Tempest” and now looking at “a Midsummer Night’s Dream” I believe we can make some parallels. First off, the archetype of the Fairy is monstrous and othered throughout Shakespeare's work and the fairy can be seen to represent a kind of human with a different set of morals and values than society could normally impose. In addition to the literature, Fuseli here is clearly commenting on some of the physical monstrosity of the fairies. Bottom too is an interesting focal point, as is the only man but arguably the most monstrous of all the characters in the painting. Fuseli Is capturing the layers and types of monstrosity found in Shakespeares classic play, and It's then interesting to look at Titania and Bottom and see the blend of monstrosity and the large image it creates.