Marriage A-la-Mode

Between 1743 and 1745, William Hogarth painted his Marriage A-la-Mode series, a set of six paintings that satirized the upper classes. In each, we see the progression of an ill-fated marriage—one born, disastrously so, for the sake of money. Together these images are (relative to the time) raunchy, irreverent, and hilarious.

The first image, The Marriage Settlement, depicts the arranged marriage between the progeny of wealthy families. While the groom’s father tries to haggle a usurer (he’s recently gone bankrupt), the groom looks at himself in the mirror.

In The Tête à Tête, we see the marriage is doomed. The husband and wife are bored with each other. There are references to possible adulterous behavior, including the wife’s open posture.

In The Inspection, we see the husband visiting a fake doctor with a prostitute. What they’re doing there is debated, but it’s nothing good.

In The Toilette, the husband’s father has died, leaving him the title of Earl. The lawyer from the first painting’s posture suggests an affair with the wife (we can guess from various clues that the child is actually the lawyer’s son).

In The Bagnio, the husband has not only finally caught his wife with her lover, but he’s been murdered as well. Pretty rough day.

In The Lady’s Death, the new widow is distraught; her lover is hanged for murdering the husband. A happy ending indeed.