Marriage à-la-mode: 6. The Lady's Death
Encyclopedia
The Lady's Death is the sixth and final canvas in the series of satirical paintings known as Marriage à-la-mode painted by William Hogarth
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The Countess has returned to her father's house after her husband’s murder. The moral drama is concluded with her having moved from dissipation and vice to misery and shame, and finally to terminating her existence by suicide after her lover is hanged at Tyburn for murdering her husband.
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
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The Countess has returned to her father's house after her husband’s murder. The moral drama is concluded with her having moved from dissipation and vice to misery and shame, and finally to terminating her existence by suicide after her lover is hanged at Tyburn for murdering her husband.
Commentary
- The final scene takes place in the Countess's father’s frugally furnished house, in contrast to the old Earl's mansion in the first scene.
- Torn by guilt and despair after discovering her lover's death, the Countess has taken poison having bribed her father’s dim-witted servant to procure her a dose of laudanumLaudanumLaudanum , also known as Tincture of Opium, is an alcoholic herbal preparation containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight ....
. The empty vial lies on the floor. - The paper on the floor at the feet of the Countess next to the vial is the handbill/broadsheet giving the notice of the execution of Silvertongue — the tripodTripodA tripod is a portable three-legged frame, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The word comes from the Greek tripous, meaning "three feet". A tripod provides stability against downward forces, horizontal forces and moments about the...
at the head is the TyburnTyburnTyburn is a former village just outside the then boundaries of London that was best known as a place of public execution.Tyburn may also refer to:* Tyburn , river and historical water source in London...
Tree-with a report of Silvertongue’s last dying speech from the gallows, the final straw that pushed the Countess to suicide. - The only people showing any sorrow for her death are her daughter and old maidservant.
- The child's legs are fitted with calipers, indicating she has ricketsRicketsRickets is a softening of bones in children due to deficiency or impaired metabolism of vitamin D, magnesium , phosphorus or calcium, potentially leading to fractures and deformity. Rickets is among the most frequent childhood diseases in many developing countries...
(a disorder that contemporary commentators associated with over-indulgence — similar to the old Earl's goutGoutGout is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint. The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected . However, it may also present as tophi, kidney stones, or urate...
in the first scene — rather than deprivation). - The child has a black patch on her neck indicating that she has contracted syphilisSyphilisSyphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
from her parents. The patch could also indicate scrofulaScrofulaTuberculous cervical lymphadenitis refers to a lymphadenitis of the cervical lymph nodes associated with tuberculosis. It was previously known as "scrofula".-The disease:...
; in either case a possible indication that the child will not live long after her mother. - The congenital handicaps visited upon the child by her parents are compounded by the final irony that as a female, she will not inherit her family titles. The family tree that the old Earl so proudly displays in the first scene has come to an end, totally destroyed by those who were charged with its preservation. Even worse (from her father's perspective), is that, as a suicide, all the property and possessions she inherited from the Earl are now forfeit to the state, causing him to lose his entire dowry — except the ring he removes from her finger before rigor mortisRigor mortisRigor mortis is one of the recognizable signs of death that is caused by a chemical change in the muscles after death, causing the limbs of the corpse to become stiff and difficult to move or manipulate...
sets in. - The apothecaryApothecaryApothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....
reprimands the dim-witted servant for having collected the poison for the Countess. - Through the door on the extreme left, behind the father, can be seen the doctor leaving.
- The leathern buckets immediately over the doctor’s head were, previous to the introduction of fire-engines, considered as proper furniture for a merchant’s hall.
- Every ornament in his parlour — including his clock, a cobweb over the window, repaired chair, even his hat — is highly and exactly appropriate to the father.
- The only food on the table is half a pig's head, a deliberately unappetising meal emphasising frugality of the father's household, about to be carried off by an emaciated dog.
- The pictures on the wall are Dutch low-life scenes and satirise the then current taste for indifferent Dutch genre pictures: a woman lights a pipe using the "heat" from a tipsy man's nose; a still life shows a sinkful of dirty dishes; a drunken man urinates against a wall.
- The window incorporates the coat of arms of the City of London (a St George's cross with an up-turned sword in the top corner), indicating that the house is on the north side of the River Thames.
- The view through the open window is of old London BridgeLondon BridgeLondon Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London and Southwark, in central London. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London...
, famous for the houses built along its length. The view is based upon that from the house of Hogarth's uncle who he used to visit as a child. The houses were demolished in 1757. This view, with deliberately exaggerated run-down and ramshackle houses on the bridge contrasts to the new stately home being built than can be viewed through the window in the first scene of the series. - The overturned piece of furniture (this time a chair) seen in the foreground is a device often used by Hogarth to indicate disagreement and discordance.
Other paintings in the Marriage à-la-mode series
- Go back to Marriage à-la-mode: 5. The BagnioMarriage à-la-mode: 5. The BagnioThe Bagnio is the fifth canvas in the series of six satirical paintings known as Marriage à-la-mode painted by William Hogarth.The new Earl catches his wife with her lover, Silvertongue, and is fatally wounded by the scoundrel who makes his escape through the window.This episode takes place in the...
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