Gin Lane Analysis
William Hogarth was a fantastic artist. He made thought-provoking art that stirred your emotions and made you think. Two specific pieces of art that William made became widely recognized and acclaimed for their descriptive detail, thought-provoking messages, and gallows-humor. These two pieces of art are called Beer Street and Gin Line. Beer Street depicts cheerful, heavy-set, and well-dressed individuals holding large mugs full of beer. On the other hand, Gin Lane shows a much darker scene of poverty stricken individuals with alcoholism running rampant.
One of the most obvious differences between these two photos is the people portrayed within them. In the lower right and left sides of Beer Street picture there is what seems to be nobles or upper-class individuals lazing around with large mugs of beer. These individuals are heavy-set and well-dressed with button-up shirts, which is why I’m assuming their nobles or of the upper-classes. In Gin Lane, there are no heavy-set nobles to be seen. In fact, in the lower right-hand corner there is a man sitting with his dog who starved to death. In Beer Street, there is an artist in very …show more content…
I think beer was more expensive at the time, so only upper-class individuals could afford such luxuries as having large mugs of beer. Which is why you see heavy-set and well-dressed men in Beer Street. Whereas gin is very cheap, so it was marketed towards the poor and suffering. I think the individuals who were experiencing hardships would be more likely to fall into alcoholism with cheap gin. This in turn caused these poor individuals to sell off their items to the pawn broker store, so that they could get more gin, which then ruined their health and lives. However, both the individuals on Gin Street and Beer Street are lazing around doing nothing but drinking. I suspect that these two pictures could be trying to convey an anti-alcohol
One of the most obvious differences between these two photos is the people portrayed within them. In the lower right and left sides of Beer Street picture there is what seems to be nobles or upper-class individuals lazing around with large mugs of beer. These individuals are heavy-set and well-dressed with button-up shirts, which is why I’m assuming their nobles or of the upper-classes. In Gin Lane, there are no heavy-set nobles to be seen. In fact, in the lower right-hand corner there is a man sitting with his dog who starved to death. In Beer Street, there is an artist in very …show more content…
I think beer was more expensive at the time, so only upper-class individuals could afford such luxuries as having large mugs of beer. Which is why you see heavy-set and well-dressed men in Beer Street. Whereas gin is very cheap, so it was marketed towards the poor and suffering. I think the individuals who were experiencing hardships would be more likely to fall into alcoholism with cheap gin. This in turn caused these poor individuals to sell off their items to the pawn broker store, so that they could get more gin, which then ruined their health and lives. However, both the individuals on Gin Street and Beer Street are lazing around doing nothing but drinking. I suspect that these two pictures could be trying to convey an anti-alcohol