Dali was profoundly influenced by two things that shaped his art and his approach to life: Freud's theory of the Unconscious, and the unconscious dream imagery of Surrealism. His paintings (and lithographs) appear as dreamlike fantasies - as this image clearly shows. At the same time, the technique he used was precise, realistic and highly skilled. In this lithograph a dream-like Esther has taken up residence in the mind of Ahasuerus, floating there, occupying all his thoughts - and in a sense trapped there.