The Nightmare of Frankenstein

The Nightmare is a painting by Henry Fuseli from the late eighteenth century. We can assume that the purpose of the painting is to put a fear and pain that Fuseli was feeling in an artistic form. The painting has a nice contrast of black and white. The painting correlates with Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, almost to well. The intro to Frankenstein explains how almost everyone that Shelley loved died. Her mother died in childbirth, her sister commited suicide, and her husband died after their only surviving son was born. She was surrounded by death. The main part of the painting is a dead woman. All the death in her life must have made her feel like she was living in darkness. In the painting, aside from the woman and horse, the painting is completely dark.