William Jennings Bryan (Political Cartoon)

Carlo de Fornaro's caricature of William Jennings Bryan employs exaggerated facial features characteristic of early 20th-century political cartooning. The image mocks Bryan's oratorical bombast with the caption referencing *A Midsummer Night's Dream*, suggesting his rhetoric was theatrical bluster rather than substance. Bryan's raised arms and formal dress convey both authority and absurdity. The stylized linework and bold black silhouettes descend from the newspaper comic tradition that emerged in the 1890s, where caricature served as a primary mode of political commentary. These drawings, published in Sunday supplements and editorial pages, established visual conventions—distorted proportions, expressive gestures, textual integration—that became foundational to comic strip language and ultimately the comic book medium.