Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
"A Harlot's Progress, Plate 4
William Hogarth, English, 1697-1764
Engraving
Gift of Prof. William A. McGill, 2001.10.03.04
“Sentenced to Bridewell Prison, Moll beats hemp with the other prisoners, mostly women, in this brutalizing house of ""correction."" The spirited look is gone from her tired, flabby face and her mouth droops slightly. She lifts her mallet only with great effort. Dressed in a grand gown, she is an object of ridicule to those around her. At her side stands a stern-faced jailer who threatens her with the leg-iron and cane—the stocks are already filled by another inmate.
The prison itself is a nurturer of crime; behind Moll a woman (perhaps the keeper's wife) steals an item of the girl's dress while she mocks her fashionable condition and acquired sensibilities. Moll's servant, dressed in rags but for a pair of incongruously gaudy shoes and stockings, smiles at the woman's treatment of her mistress. Beside the servant, a woman kills vermin on her body.
The prisoners are ranked by the warden according to their wealth and appearance. Next to Moll stands an older, well-dressed man who has been permitted to bring his dog to jail with him; the forged playing card that lies in front of him has betrayed him. Next to him stands a mere child with a look of resignation on her pretty face; she works with great earnestness and intensity. Beside her a more experienced, older woman rests on her mallet as she watches the keeper's movements. The last visible figure in the line is a pregnant Black, evidence that women of all races are subject to the same fates. At the end of the shed is a crude vengeful stick drawing of Sir John Gonson hanging from the gallows; the letters Sr J G. appear above it. On the left wall stands a whipping post with the warning The Wages of Idleness.""
From Sean Shesgreen, Engravings by Hogarth"