The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

Cielo Fortin-CamachoKatrina BormanisApril 12th 2007ARTH 360 Aspects/History of PrintThe Sleep of Reason Produces MonstersThey are so subtle that people with the sharpest intelligence do no usually at first comprehend all the moral meaning of some, and those with little perspicacity need time and help to understand them -Gregorio Gonzalez Azaola, Satiras de Goya, 1811Dreams are defined as a series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntary in the mind during certain stages of sleep(Websters). Often they are a wild fantasy or hope and more so an abstraction of the mind. Frequently dreams are said to portray events and images that are highly unlikely to occur in physical reality. The exception to this scenario is something known as a lucid dream. In these dreams, the dreamer themselves realizes that they are indeed dreaming and are sometimes capable of changing the feel and plotline of the story their mind is producing. In lucid dreams the suspense is quickly damaged but emotions are often heightened. People can often find inspiration from dreams, whether they are goals they wish to achieve or changes in their life they long to make, in either case there is always something that can be drawn from dreams. In Goyas supposal autobiographical portrayal in his print entitled El Sueno de la Razon Produce Monstruos (translates to The Sleep [or dream] of Reason Produces Monsters), he expresses a rare yet common type of dream commonly referred to as a nightmare. Nightmares consist of the same traits and qualities of regular and more common dreams but are filled with frightening thoughts, feelings, and/or images. In this print Goya expresses his fears of the society surrounding him he feels is unwilling to change for the better (Tomlinson, 3) Goya mockingly expresses his fears by perhaps portraying the society as the demonized bats, owls and the craze eyed finx that linger and swarm behind him. Although it may seem clear to some, I feel as though Goyas