The first picture I chose is Thisbe by John Waterhouse. This picture depicts Thisbe listening to Pyramus through the wall. The picture seems to be pretty accurate as far as the style of the house and having Thisbe with her ear against it. I do, however, find a few faults with the picture. First, I would imagine Thisbe to be depicted both a bit younger and a bit prettier. Here she is depicted a bit older, more around 18 or 20 in my opinion, and is not exactly the image of youth and innocence as Thisbe is described by Ovid. Also, the fact that along the wall all we see is a crack bothers me. I understand that Thisbe's head is against the chink, but we only see a crack. I feel as though this may give the wrong impression, as a crack would not allow the interaction that Pyramus and Thisbe had because a crack is simply not wide enough to allow the sound to travel. I think this error would give the wrong impression of the story to someone who was not as familiar with the story.
Second, I chose Gregorio Pagani's Pyramus and Thisbe. This, as with many others, depicts Thisbe's death scene. The first thing I noticed in the picture is the fountain in the background. I do like that this is included, as it played such an important part in the plot. I also found it appropriate that Thisbe was stabbing herself in her lower chest, as that is how Ovid described the situation. I do find it slightly annoying, however, that Pyramus's blood pool suggest that he was stabbed in the neck and the end of the sword is placed at his stomach. This seems a bit ridiculous, as the rest of the picture is rather accurate, and then this detail is left alone. I understand that depicting or implying that someone was stabbed in the "woo-hoo" can be a bit graphic and uncomfortable, but that's the way it happened. Ovid wanted it that way, so that is the way it should be.
Lastly, I chose Pyramus und Thisbe by Niklaus Manuel Deutsch, another depiction of the Thisbe death scene. This picture I found to be the most interesting interpretation of the story. First, one of Pyramus's legs is red, which is interesting because the leg is not mutilated or destroyed in any way in the picture. This seems to be a way to communicate Pyrramus's "private" wound, which I find to be creative, but also confusing at first glance. Next, when I look at Thisbe, she seems to be pregnant. I find this to be an interesting twist on the story. We have talked about how the change in the mulberries represents what the couple was able to leave behind since they could not have children, and nowhere in Ovid's story did he describe Thisbe as being pregnant. I also would like to point out that here, Thisbe is aiming the sword at her pregnant belly. Again, an interesting twist, as it seems to symbolize that if Pyramus isn't living, Thisbe doesn't want to live, and she feels as though her child shouldn't have to live without her. Again, an interesting twist. Something else that bothers me about this picture is that we see the mulberry tree, but we do not see any mulberries. Since this is the change of the story, if you are going to include the tree, you should include the mulberries. Also, going back to the baby concept, if the mulberries are what the couple leaves behind, and there are no mulberries, and Thisbe decides to kill her unborn child, then the whole concept of the couple leaving something behind is completely destroyed. If this was Deutsch's intention, then shame on him for attempting to alter the wonderful, beautiful, deep, and symbolic story that Ovid created.
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