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The Fallacies of English Society

Decent Essays

In the 18th century wealthy white men ruled England. The upper class men ruled society, and married for a woman’s reputation and her dowry. Marriage is a business arrangement and women have to maintain an upstanding reputation. Hogarth’s engravings depict the roles that gender and class plays in society.
The more money you have the less freedom you have especially for women. In Hogarth’s The Harlot’s Progress and in Four Times a Day you can see the differences in gender and class. The Harlots Progress shows Mal arriving in the city as a virtuous young woman. It is foreshadowed in the beginning that she will have no one looking out for her. The man who is supposed to be taking her to the city is more concerned of the money he will be getting for her as she wanders into a woman who teaches her the business. At first she looks like she is just experiencing the city, but then it turns into more where she becomes a loose woman and turns tricks for money. As she progresses in the images she looks worse with spots on her face and tattered clothing. Her estate looks rather run down and she becomes very ill. She later dies while her child isn’t acknowledging her illness. When she passes her funeral is more of a party where a girl looks into the casket and sees her future. This engraving shows the difference in classes and

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