The Harlot's Progress 4

The Harlot's Progress 4

William Hogarth (1697 - 1764)

Date: 1732
Dimensions:
316 x 382 mm
Medium: Etching and engraving
Object number: PT1093
DescriptionPlate IV Detention in Bridewell
Etching and Engraving.1732. 31.6 x 38.2 cm. State I
Engraver William Hogarth (1697-1764)
Below plate: Plate IV. Wm. Hogarth inv.pinxt.et.sculp.
Paulson 121.
PT1093
In this scene we see Moll in Bridewell Prison. Sentenced to hard labour, she is beating hemp to be made into ropes.
The jailer threatens her with his cane and is pointing to an ankle weight on the floor as a possible punishment if she does not work harder.
The jailer's wife is mocking Moll while feeling the fine silk of Moll's dress. She winks towards her husband.
Behind her is a prisoner in the stocks, that has "Better to Work than Stand thus" written on it.
Moll may have worn the dress to court in an attempt to impress the magistrate at her trial.
Standing next to Moll is a card cheat. His playing cards have fallen onto the floor in front of him. He is with his wife and daughters, one of whom may be disabled.
Prison graffiti shows the magistrate John Gonson hanging from the gallows.
A pregnant African woman who has "pleaded her child", can just be seen at the far end of the room. Pregnant women could not be executed or transported.
This woman is pulling on a pair of Moll's stockings and may be wearing Moll's shoes that she has bullied Moll into giving her.
Hogarth illustrates Moll's fall in this scene by contrasting her fine dress with the humiliating and dirty surroundings of the prison and its inmates.