Aubrey Beardsley’s Examination of the Heard was first published in 1896 as an illustration to accompanyThe Lysistrata of Aristophanes, Now First Wholly Translated into English (Schork 402). It depicts an older gentleman, with his small flaccid penis exposed, smirking as he carefully examines the comically large penis of the young herald. Due to the explicitly graphic elements such as nudity and unimaginable human proportions it shocked audiences during the nineteenth century due to its 'extravagance.' However, this image is also very comical due to the absurdity of the scene, thus eliciting horror at the thought of laughing at something so perverse. As Higgins states, “[The] extravagant extremes of behaviour or depiction. . . provoke in turn a divided reaction in the viewer or reader, of amusement at the comic elements coupled with awareness of its inappropriateness to the horror depicted” (67). This Beardsley image reflects a fascination with the grotesque and taboo, challenging what is actually horrifying by blending humour with unsettling scenes and unfathomable realities.
Beardsley, Aubrey. Examination of the Herald. 1896. WikiArt: Visual Art Encyclopedia. https://www.wikiart.org/en/aubrey-beardsley/the-examination-of-the-herald-1896. Accessed 4 Dec. 2024.
Higgins, Jennifer. “Unfamiliar Places: France and the Grotesque in Aubrey Beardsley’s Poetry and Prose.” The Modern Language Review, vol. 106, no. 1, 2011, pp. 63–85. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.5699/modelangrevi.106.1.0063. Accessed 4 Dec. 2024.
Schork, R. J. “Aristophanes and Joyce.” International Journal of the Classical Tradition, vol. 2, no. 3, 1996, pp. 399–413. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30222223. Accessed 6 Dec. 2024.