Plate 9 from ‘The Disasters of War’ (Los Desastres de la Guerra): ‘They don’t like to.’ (No quieren.)

Description

In They don’t like to, a woman attacks a soldier who threatens another woman, making resistance a close and urgent physical action. Francisco Goya’s They Don’t Like To gives the scene an understated caption whose restraint intensifies the violence. The confrontation centers on an effort to interrupt harm, with the defending figure entering the danger she seeks to prevent.

Made in 1810 and published in 1863, plate 9 of The Disasters of War uses etching and aquatint to give the struggling bodies immediate weight. Goya makes civilian resistance visible without offering a reassuring outcome. The scene’s force comes from the relationship between the women, where one person’s vulnerability draws another into action. Its brief title refuses to disguise coercion as willing participation, allowing the image to expose both the threat and the effort to reject it.

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