Google

The amazing web site of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Industry and Idleness. Plate 9. The Idle Apprentice betrayed by his whore and taken in a night cellar with his accomplice , by Hogarth.

HAKESPEARE'S     ONNETS

This is part of the web site of Shakespeare's sonnets

 

PICTURE GALLERY.

William Hogarth 1697 - 1764.

 
 Industry and Idleness.  Plate 9.  The Idle Apprentice betrayed by his whore and taken in a night cellar with his Accomplice.  1747.

Hogarth first achieved fame as an artist through his series of moralistic engravings, commencing with  A Harlot's Progress in 1731.  This was followed by A Rake's Progress in 1735,  Marriage ŕ-la-mode in 1743-5, and Industry and Idleness in 1747 .  Originally the sets of pictures were  oil paintings which Hogarth subsequently published as engravings.  However the Industry and Idleness series  was conceived entirely as a set of engravings which were not copied from paintings.  They were put on sale for one shilling each, which is equivalent today, (2008), to about ten pounds sterling (GBP).  Evidently Hogarth was trying to appeal to a wider audience than the upper class wealthy who were his usual patrons.  
The Industry and Idleness series is rather crudely moralistic, depicting how industry and virtue are rewarded with worldly success, while idleness, corruption and vice is ultimately punished by the gallows.  Despite this rather tedious tale, which is not true to life and simplistically misrepresents the apprenticeship system of the time, the engravings are a superb record of both the lower and upper end of London life of the time.    The banqueting scene of Plate 8 and the two final crowd scenes of the Tyburn spectacle and the Lord  Mayor's Parade are incomparable and show the satirical Hogarth at his very best.  

The scene is set in a cellar known as Bloodbowl House, a notorious den of thieves and in particular the haunt of members of a gang called the Black-boys.  It was in Black-boy Alley, leading out of Chick Lane, Smithfield.  Evidently a  man who was probably drunk has been lured off the street and killed for his posessions, which are being examined by Tom Idle and his accomplice, the one eyed villain of Plate 3.  The dead man is being bundled down through a trap door.  A woman with a syphilitic nose serves up a tankard of ale.  Meanwhile a drunken brawl has erupted  in the rear of the room.  Tom, being preoccupied with the spoils and unconcerned with the din, fails to notice that his woman is admitting the constables, the first of whom slips a coin into her hand, perhaps as a pledge of a further reward.  


Industry and Idleness. Plate 9. The Idle Apprentice betrayed by his whore and taken in a night cellar with his Accomplice.

  William Hogarth

British Artist and Engraver

Industry and Idleness.  Plate 9.  The Idle Apprentice betrayed by his whore and taken in a night cellar with his accomplice.  

Engraving, published   1747
 
 


Industry and Idleness. Plate 9. The Idle Apprentice betrayed by his whore and taken in a night cellar with his Accomplice.



Source:  Hogarth's Works published by J. Dicks, 313 The Strand, London.  Circa 1880.  


Return to Hogarth index

Return to Picture index

Back to Home Page

 

Hogarth: Industry and Idleness. Plate 1. The two apprentices. Hogarth: Industry and Idleness. Plate 2. TheIndustrious Apprentice performing the duty of a Christian
Industry and Idleness. Plate 3.
Industry and Idleness. Plate 4.

 Industry and Idleness.  Plate 1.  The two apprentices.  Industry and Idleness.  Plate 2.  The industrious 'prentice performing the duty of a Christian.       Industry and Idleness.  Plate 3.  The idle apprentice at play in the churchyard during divine service.       Industry and Idleness.  Plate 4. The Industrious 'prentice a favourite and entrusted by his master.                                  

Industry and Idleness. Plate 5.
Industry and Idleness. Plate 6
Industry and Idleness. Plate 7.
Industry and Idleness. Plate 8.

 Industry and Idleness.  Plate 5.  The idle 'prentice turned away and sent to sea.    Industry and Idleness.  Plate 6.  The industrious 'prentice out of his time and married to his master's daughter.    Industry and Idleness.  Plate 7.  The idle 'prentice returned from sea and in a garret with a common prostitute.
 Industry and Idleness.  Plate 8.  The industrious 'prentice grown rich and sheriff of London.
                               

Industry and Idleness. Plate 9.
Industry and Idleness. Plate 10.
Industry and Idleness. Plate 11.
Industry and Idleness. Plate 12.

 Industry and Idleness.  Plate 9.  The idle 'prentice betrayed (by his whore) and taken in a night cellar with his accomplice.    Industry and Idleness.  Plate 10.  The industrious 'prentice Alderman of London, the idle one brought before him and impeached by his accomplice.    Industry and Idleness.  Plate 11.  The idle 'prentice executed at Tyburn.
 Industry and Idleness.  Plate 12.  The industrious 'prentice Lord Mayor of London.  
                               

Shakespeare's Sonnets:

Start here with the first sonnet

 

First line index
 Sonnets 1 - 50   Some links to other sites
 

 Text facsimiles
   Sonnets 51 - 100  

 General notes for background details, general policies etc.

 Other related texts of the period
   Sonnets 101 - 154 For a global search use all the sonnets as
plain text 1-154

or use the
first line index.
If you have enjoyed this web site, please visit its companion -
Pushkin's Poems
  Map of the site          
Views of London
as it was in 1616.
London Bridge
As it was in Shakespeare's day, circa 1600.
To search for a line or phrase in the sonnets go to the
sonnets as plain text

and use the browser text search engine.

 

Views of London
as it was in 1616.
 London Bridge
As it was in Shakespeare's day, circa 1600.
To search for a line or phrase in the sonnets go to the
Sonnets as plain text

and use the browser text search engine.
     

 

 

 

Sonnets 1 - 50    Back to home page
Sonnets 51 - 100   If you have enjoyed this web site, please visit its companion -
Pushkin's Poems
Sonnets 101 - 154    If you wish to comment on this site please refer to details on the home page.
   Copyright Šof this site belongs to Oxquarry Books Ltd

Industry and Idleness. Plate 9. The Idle Apprentice betrayed by his whore and taken in a night cellar with his Accomplice.


  
    Industry and Idleness.  Plate 9.  The Idle Apprentice betrayed by his whore and taken in a night cellar with his Accomplice.  
 

 Return to Hogarth index

 Return to Picture index

 Copyright Šof this site belongs to Oxquarry Books Ltd