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VL Project 2: Visual Contexts Research 1 - Beer Street Gin Lane

 Published by British artist William Hogarth in 1751, the popular satirical engravings Beer Street and Gin Lane were part of a campaign to curb gin drinking amongst the poor in London. The prints show the consequences of excessive gin drinking on Gin Lane in comparison with the moderate consumption of ale along Beer Street. The verses at the bottom, written by James Towneley, explain the meaning of the images, but most of the meaning is embedded within the image through the use of symbolism and visual metaphor.

 


 https://www.thehistoryofart.org/william-hogarth/beer-street/

https://www.thehistoryofart.org/william-hogarth/gin-lane/

This website explains the two pictures quite well in depth, things I didnt even catch myself whilst analysing. I annotate the two pictures and made my own comparisons which did relate to the things listed on the website above.



 

 Compare the two images and identify how Hogarth has used denotation and connotation. 

 Denotation definition

  1. Something, such as a sign or symbol, that denotes.
  2. Something signified or referred to; a particular meaning of a symbol. 

Connation definition

 a feeling or idea that is suggested by a particular word although it need not be a part of the word's meaning, or something suggested by an object or situation.

Think about the visual language and symbolic structure he has used to construct meaning. Consider these questions:

  • What has Hogarth shown literally through denotation to support his anti-gin/pro-beer argument and what is implied through connotation?  For example, are the buildings in good repair or disuse, what is in the foreground and what’s in the distance?

    Hogarth has used expressions in both images, people can be seen with happy calm expressions in beer street and you can see theyr'e drinking beer. In gin lane the expressions are the opposite, theres more violence and anger, there is a crowd holding up furniture suggesting a riot.

    I can see that theres a few connotaion been used in each also. The building in gin lane are all in ruin and theres obvious destruction for example bricks falling and missing, where as beer streer people are building and fixing the buildings and you can see a painter painting a sign, the community looks productive in comparison. 

    Reading the descriptions on the webiste above In the distance of beer street you can see structurally sound building and 'On the rooftop of a pub, the roofers raise their beer mugs to their fellow workers, the tailors seated cross-legged in a nearby window' so it just shows that the social morale is high because of beer.

    Gin lane however has a lot darker of a background reading the analysis again from the website above it says 'In the street behind the three foreground figures of the man, the woman and the plummeting child is a hellish scene. A gin-crazed man has impaled a baby on a spike while its mother screams in horror. Not far away, another mother sedates her baby with a cup of gin. There is no escape; lifting the gaze to avoid the scene, the observer encounters a coffin swinging above the street to advertise an undertaker’s shop.' You can see a man hanging also in the building on the right. I think the dramatic differences between the two is very obvious that Howgarth was adamant about promoting the drunking of beer and the consequences of gin.

  • What about the pawnbroker’s symbol and the symbolism in the physical language of the human body – the gestures, poses, sizes? There’s even a dead body in there somewhere. 

    I can see myself that the pawnbroker in beer street aren't relied on as much  and are hidden with just a whole in the wall and the povity suggested in gin lane you can see buisness is ruthless for the reason that these people are spening all their money on gin. ,The pawnbroker in Beer Street can scarcely stay in business, while the pawnbroker in Gin Lane flourishes.'

    Gin Lane - 'The scene in front of the pawnshop reveals the reason: the carpenter is pawning his tools while a woman, possibly his wife, offers up her pans in exchange for money to buy gin. Home, employment and sanity have all been given away and the only people who are doing well from this situation are the pawnbroker, the gin distiller and the undertaker.'

    As for the people and physical language there are such strong differences. The people in Beer Street are happy, wealthy and healthy looking, morale looks high, theres plenty of food about, smiles, some romance brewing. Everyone seems well dressed and things look respectful. But looking at Gin Lane the people all look ill, angry and antisocial. The women with babies are potrayed as terrible mothers abusing their kids in some way and selling themselves. The men in the picture are either behaving violently or are on the brink of death as you can see by the emaciated man on the bottom right. The coffins and apparent hanging also show how detrimental the consumption of gin is to the community. 

     

  • www.thehistoryofart.org. (n.d.). Beer Street by William Hogarth. [online] Available at: https://www.thehistoryofart.org/william-hogarth/beer-street/.

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    www.thehistoryofart.org. (n.d.). Beer Street by William Hogarth. [online] Available at: https://www.thehistoryofart.org/william-hogarth/beer-street/.

    ‌www.thehistoryofart.org. (n.d.). Beer Street by William Hogarth. [online] Available at: https://www.thehistoryofart.org/william-hogarth/beer-street/.

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