ART HISTORY ESSAY (no reference)

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Moralizing images: one being of good morals the other illustrating immorality. It was propaganda for the production of English made beer. The city became a prevalent backdrop for scenes such as these since the population was leaving the countryside behind. From artble.com: “The theme of this work is gin and the negative effects it has when consumed in high quantities as opposed to the 'healthy' consumption of much weaker English beer which was believed to cause less social problems. In Beer Street happy and healthy drinkers celebrate the king's birthday after a hard day's work. Business on the street is thriving apart from the pawnbroker who hides from debt collectors. On Gin Lane however, there is a shocking deterioration of morals; the street is in a state of ill repair and the people are almost skeletal and disheveled. People are pleading with the pawnbroker to buy their wares in order to find more money for gin and a neglectful mother lets her child fall to its death. If Hogarth was encouraged to produce these prints by his friend Henry Fielding they certainly continue in the same vain as many other works that he produced around this time. Unlike many of his earlier moral works, such as Marriage a la Mode which satirized the foibles of the upper classes in a gentle manner, Hogarth's later offerings became stark social warnings. Prints such as Beer Street and Gin Lane were designed to highlight the problems relating to drinking gin and to encourage the viewer to choose beer instead. Not only was beer much weaker, but it was also produced locally and in many ways Hogarth uses it to promote a kind of national unity within this picture. The consumption of large amounts of gin was a real problem in 18th century England. It had been introduced when Queen Anne married King George of Denmark and gin began to replace local beers as the drink of choice for the lower-class population. Gin was not only cheap and strong but readily available and began to cause a whole range of health and social problems across London, including: Stealing and Robbery Massive amounts of people living in small areas, encouraging disease Prostitution Unemployment Neglect of children In comparison, Beer Street was an image demonstrating Hogarth's pride in his country and shows an idyllic image of England without foreign influences.”