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Drawings

Illustration 8 to Milton's "Comus": The Lady Restored to Her Parents

Type
Drawings(Opens in new tab)
Date
ca. 1801
Accession number
000.27
Maker
William Blake(Opens in new tab) (British, 1757–1827)
Dimensions
8 13/16 x 7 3/16 in. (22.4 x 18.3 cm.) mount: 21 15/16 x 17 7/8 in. (55.7 x 45.4 cm.)
Medium
pen and watercolor
Description
The Lady and her Brothers have left the dark wood to return to the house of their aged parents (947 and stage direction following 657). Their humble house on the right contrasts with Comus' palace pictured in the fifth design. The Brothers look to the left with gestures of surprise as they see the attendant Spirit in propria persona as a soaring winged figure. The Lady's mother, with a mantle over her head, recalls similar figures elsewhere in Blake's art, such as the old woman in the illustration on page 35 of Edward Young's Night Thoughts, engraved by Blake 1796-97. Such figures are associated with Vala, the goddess of fallen nature in Blake's mythology, and with other mysterious females like the hooded moon goddess in the fourth design. It is far from certain that this iconography is pertinent to the Lady's mother in Comus, but the format of the design does suggest a juxtaposition between the Lady's spiritual guardian on the left and her earth-bound natural parents on the right. While the masque ends in joyous dance and song, Blake's illustrations end on a far more serious note emphasized by the facial expressions of all six figures. In the Boston version, the disc of the sun above the distant hill is smaller but more prominently outlined and colored. The large shaft of light in the Huntington design is replaced by many smaller rays. Trees and their heavy foliage fill the middle distance. We now see the pitch of the roof on the far right. The front-most Brother turns his back to us, with arms down but hands spread out; the other Brother holds his hands in prayer. We also see the attendant Spirit from behind; his extended hands reach toward the top right corner. The Lady is pictured in profile and with a happier expression on her face. Her parents, however, look even more careworn. Her mother raises her right hand in greeting, rather than reaching it around her daughter's waist as in the Huntington design.
Credit
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Department
European Art
Find out more
View in the Art Museum catalog(Opens in new tab)
The attendant Spirit soars away to the left, leaving the Lady and her brothers with their parents. This happy event in th poem is given more sober implications by the Lady's blank expression and the care-worn faces of her parents.

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