Tuesday 29 March 2011

Hogarth's 'Modern Moral Subjects'


'Boys Peeping at Nature'

The subscription ticket for A Harlot's Progress, 'Boys Peeping at Nature', is indicative of Hogarth's own intentions for his work. The series is the first example of the new genre of painting he called his 'Modern Moral Subjects', which characteristically satirised the manners of the day. The image features a Satyr attempting to 'peep at nature', a suggestion of base subject matter, however he is fended off implying that decency will be maintained.

By deviating in this way from traditional art subjects of the time, Hogarth established himself as a 'history painter'. Due to advancements in printing he was able to mass produce the series as a subscription to the public; it was immediately popular, particularly as 'conversation pieces' to the wealthy. David Bindman asserts: "It was taken for granted in Hogarth's own time...that his prints gave a picture of the age in which he lived."(Hogarth and His Times, 1997, p.24) However, it is clear from the existence of symbolism and satire in the images that they cannot be relied upon as a 'mirror' of the past.


For example, the dilapedated condition of Moll's apartment in Plate 3 indicates poverty as well as symbolising her crumbling morality. There is a witches' hat hanging from the wall, on which Gonson's eyes appear to be fixed, implying that prostitution is the work of the devil.





In Plate 4, the gaoler's wife and the servant from the previous scene are stealing from Moll with jeers and winks to the audience. There is an ironic sense to the image that in this so-called 'house of correction', the prisoners are clearly not being reformed.


There are obvious moral lessons imparted here by Hogarth which inevitably affect the objectivity of the source. Evidence of humour and hidden meanings in the images show that they were intended primarily to entertain an audience, not solely to provide an accurate representation of the time; Hogarth himself asserted: “My picture is my stage, and men and women my players, who by means of certain actions and gestures are to exhibit a dumb show.”(Wheatley 1909, p.10) This affects the reliability of the series as historical evidence; however, as long as it is considered when analysing the source, the existence of a subtext adds value to a historian as an indication of contemporary attitudes.

Since she takes the place of the classical protagonist within the series, the harlot is whom the audience is asked to empathise with. In Plate 4 she is juxtaposed by her impressive dress within the miserable environment. Wheatley quotes a passage from the Grub Street Journal in 1730 to show this was not exaggerated; one prisoner was described: “beating hemp in a gown very richly laced with silver.”(1909, p.394) Moll's weary and far-away look could be intended to evoke sympathy from the audience; meanwhile, their eye is caught by what appears to be prisoners' graffiti, depicting Sir John Gonson hanging at the gallows:



Wheatley asserts that the inclusion of the drawing appears to be used as “a plea for the amelioration of the treatment of these unfortunates in the prisons.”(1909, p.394) This highlights a significant moral perspective, as Hogarth and his audience are siding with the criminals and opposing the authorities; this heavily indicates disapproval for the work of Gonson the Societies for the Reformation of Manners.

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