How conservative was Hogarth's view of London Essay

How conservative was Hogarth's view of London - Essay Example Hogarth’s important works: Hogarth’s paintings portray a view of London streets that is bustling and chaotic, such that a viewer looking at the paintings gets a feeling almost of claustrophobia because they appear to be so packed and close. The angle and view which the artist presents make the view feel as if s/he is walking through crowded streets in London, as opposed to neat and well ordered ones. This feeling of being crowded and congested may be noted especially in his work titled â€Å"Southwark Fair (the humours of a fair) which is dated January 1733. This particular painting is centred around the church of St. George in Southwark. This particular painting may be a follow on of the series of eight paintings which comprised the series known as the â€Å"rake’s progress†. These were first presented by Hogarth as canvases and depicted the life of Tom Rakewell , the son of a rich merchant, who comes to London and spends away all his money on prostituti on and gambling, so that he is finally sent off to prison and on to bedlam. The last painting in the series shows an insane and violent Tom consigned to a mental hospital and the painting titled â€Å"Southwark fair† might represent Tom’s descent into bedlam.. ... As Brennan (2009) has pointed out, one out of every five women in London during that time period were prostitutes. There was a high demand for virgins and the noblemen paid a high price for the privilege of deflowering virgins. Hogarth’s portrayal of these prostitutes in his works, as also further detailed below, points out that monetary considerations took precedence over morality and virtue. Young women could earn much higher sums of money by selling out their bodies to high paying men, as opposed to plying an honest trade and working as maids or in similar professions. Hence, greed was the sole motive for the eschewing of virtue and Hogarth’s portrayal of these prostitutes is such that a fall is inevitably associated with the lives of these harlots, after years of fattening of their wallets through their earnings. Hogarth’s works of art question the existing moral standards in the London of his day. In an exhaustive discussion of black slaves and the moral and social connotations that were associated with the training of the former slaves into docile houseboys, Molineaux has noted that owning a black houseboy had become equivalent to owning a pet or a dog, so that the sight of white ladies with their black slaves had become fairly common in London. In his series of works titled â€Å" A harlot’s progress† that consist of six different plates, Hogarth details the story of a young woman who arrives in London and descends into prostitution. The second print shows the harlot in luxurious surroundings, ensconced in a parlor owned by a rich Jewish merchant, where the harlot is also attended by a monkey and a black slave, thereby signifying in a satirical manner, the so called â€Å"high standing† that this woman has attained by virtue of being the rich Jewish