Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
"A Rake's Progress, Plate 5
William Hogarth, English, 1697-1764
Engraving
Gift of Prof. William A. McGill, 2001.10.04.05
“Unreclaimed to bourgeois life by Sarah Young and determined to pursue his career as a gentleman, the rake repairs his fortune by cynical alliance with an aged, ugly partner who trades her wealth for sexual fulfillment and class advancement. The scene of this mock religious ceremony is the decayed church of St. Mary-le-Bone, famous for clandestine marriages (the gallery holds a plaque reading This Church of St. Mary le Bone was Beautified in the year 1725, Tho Sice Tho Horn Church Wardens).
The condition of the church mirrors the nature of the act and actors in the scene; plaster has fallen from the walls; the creed on the right wall has rotted away, leaving only the words I Believe; and the tablet with the commandments is cracked. The sounding board behind the pulpit bears the outline of the preacher's hat. The pew at the left, like clergyman and the church, belongs to those who can buy it. The inscription reads: These: pewes vnscrvd: and: tan: in. svnd[r]/ In. stone: thers: graven: wahat: is: vnder/ To wit: a : valt: for: bvrial: there: is/ Which: Edward: Forset: made: for: him: and: his. The poor box is covered with a cobweb.
The rake, a stately, attractive figure, is in the act of prostituting himself in much the same way as the harlot did in Plate II. As he slips the ring on his wife's finger, he glances calculatingly at her young maid. At the feet of these richly dressed figures, a ragged urchin with his toes peeping through his right shoe positions a kneeler for the bride. The wife, an overdressed, one-eyed, hunchbacked creature, leers and seems to wink at the clergyman, a figure much more her match in age and looks. The small crucifix on her breast and the halo-like IHS above her head cast her satirically as a saint. A large, aggressive dog and a smaller one-eyed bitch mirror the alliance taking place at the right. In the background a churchwarden battles with Sarah Young and her clawing mother, who have come with the rake's child to prevent the marriage.”
From Sean Shesgreen, Engravings by Hogarth
Alternate label:
Marries an Old Maid
Plate 5: The rake has been saved from debtor's
prison by the charity of Sarah Young. Ignoring her
help, he has sought to reclaim his former wealth by
marrying an ancient, one-eyed woman for her
fortune. To the lower left two dogs mimic this
unseemly ceremony. Rakewell, however, already has
his eyes fixed upon the more comely appearance of
the maid.
The scene for this alliance is the Church of St.
Mary-le-Bone, which was famous for its clandestine
marriages. Cracks have formed on the walls and
patches of plaster have fallen. Cobwebs cover the
collection box. This is quite possibly a church of “ill
repute.”
In the background are Sarah Young, her
newborn baby and her mother. They have come to
plea for a stop to this marriage but are prevented by
a churchwarden"