The Nightmare by Henry Füssli: a review of its association with sleep paralysis through the idea of the sublime
Amaia Salazar, Tonia Raquejo
Arte, Individuo y Sociedad September 12, 2023 DOI: 10.5209/aris.87917 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | Henry füssli Sleep paralysis |
| Key points | Argues that Füssli's The Nightmare accurately depicts sleep paralysis and conveys the experience through a misogynistic sublime gaze, enabling scopophilic pleasure in the viewer. |
Abstract
In this article, we closely examine the pre-Romantic artist Henry Füssli's version of The Nightmare (1781), observing how he not only accurately depicted the described and identified characteristics of the sleep disorder known as sleep paralysis, but also personified the affected sleeper's own sensations through his work. We undertake a comprehensive review of his work in order to explore the motivations behind Füssli's interest in depicting parasomnia, and attempt to understand the pictorial corporeality inspired by this phenomenon. To achieve the latter aim, we examined the different determining factors belonging to the Burkean aesthetic categories of beauty and the sublime. This approach highlights how Füssli managed to capture parasomnia in his work under a misogynistic gaze through the idea of the sublime, and the importance of its iconic and repeated representation in art. Through this, we can observe, understand, and precisely interpret the psychophysical effects of this experience on the viewer and detect the pleasure of scopophilia in Füssli's male gaze.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dreaming: a conceptual framework for philosophy of mind and empirical research | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming | 2015 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Varieties of Lucid Dreaming Experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Experimental Research on Dreaming: State of the Art and Neuropsychoanalytic Perspectives | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes Up | 2009 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- The hallucinating art of Heinrich Füssli. Frontiers of neurology and neuroscience 2007
- Situational factors affecting sleep paralysis and associated hallucinations: position and timing effects Journal of Sleep Research June 1, 2002
- Sleep paralysis in the elderly Journal of Sleep Research June 1, 1999