Midsummer-night’s dream. Act. 3. scene 1. ‘O monstrous! O strange! we are haunted …’
1906-1921
Arthur Rackham brings Shakespeare’s wildest comedy to life with this chaotic sketch of terrified actors fleeing into the woods. In this scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream, the bumbling 'mechanicals' are rehearsing a play when the mischievous fairy Puck scares them off, making them believe they are haunted. Rackham’s signature scratchy ink lines and spindly figures perfectly capture their frantic panic as they tumble over roots and branches. As a master of the Golden Age of Illustration, Rackham was famous for infusing classic stories with a dark, whimsical magic that felt both ancient and modern.