Sleep Paralysis In The Nightmare By Henry Fuseli

Figure 2 is an oil painting by Henry Fuseli named, “The Nightmare”. In this painting we can see the incubus, or demon sitting on the chest of a woman. This woman lays there motionless and appears to be helpless because her arms look like they are dangling over the bed in a manner that indicates their uselessness. The demon, sits on her chest in a cynical way, he is also naked which demonstrates the sexualizzation of this experience. This figure is important to my essay because it offers a visual representation of what the experience entails. Furthermore, sleep paralysis may be used to explain other types of superstitions and the supernatural. Montague Summers’ was a believer of vampires, werewolves and witches. He recorded the experiences of

I have never been afraid of ghouls or witches because they are not relevant in society today but to a person living in the 18th century, ghouls and witches seemed like an actual threat. Furthermore, the fact that “[the ghouls and witches] could not cheat his wakefulness” shows that this was not a dream and he was conscious and his inability to move indicates that this could have been sleep paralysis. The reason why this is important is because sleep paralysis already encompasses many aspects of the supernatural but it can also be used to explain other forms of superstitions and it also strengthens my claim that the fears surrounding a culture can better explain the differences in people’s experience with sleep paralysis and

This book grappled with the history of sleep paralysis or as he calls it “nightmares”, it offers a unique perspective of a man living in Britain in the 1800s. First and foremost, the title of the book is very interesting because it reflects the similar struggle in my research. The history of sleep paralysis is interwoven in the history of incubuses, nightmares, bad dreams and hallucination. Even in the 1800s people were not sure how to label sleep paralysis. This book begins with a criticism of the medical field during this time he states, “The little attention paid to this disease [sleep paralysis] by medical men, has left the subject of it without a remedy, and almost without hope”. Waller suffers from frequent sleep paralysis himself and explains how people who often suffer from this disease know and understand the severity behind it, as well as the consequences a disease like this can have on the everyday life of a person. Imagine fearing sleep, constantly dreading rest and being exhausted because of the weight that sleep paralysis has on your day to day life. Figuratively this word can perfectly describe being held down, which is why in the later 1800s it was being used more frequently to describe the immobility of