Responding to a Brief - Research 3.1: Denotation and Connotation

Introduction

For this research task I managed to find a high-resolution copy of both images. This allowed me to zoom in closer to take note of some of the finer details. I found it amazing how much detail and messaging Hogarth managed to include in the images. They go so much further than the accompanying poems achieve.

At first, I started to make notes in my sketchbook about the combinations of denotation and connotation in the images. I quickly realised that I would end up using pages and pages which I would then have to write up! So I changed the way I organised the task, using tables in the learning log itself to note my observations and thoughts. I took selected areas of the images where useful to contextualise what I was comparing.

The table approach was probably the most efficient way for me to do this. I like to deconstruct and analyse work as part of my research tasks, but had I taken more usual narrative-driven approach I think this particular task could have become overwhelming for me and the reader!

Below I have called out different sections, and for each compared the denotation and connotation present. Hopefully this makes it easier to digest, and I hope you find it as interesting as I did! I do wonder how much connotation is influenced by my own morality, assumptions and socio-economic views. Not that I agree with Hogarth - more that I see the demonisation of the working classes still at play in modern times, and these images seem to reflect media tactics of right-wing political parties in today's society.

Beer Street

Pub Sign

Denotation	Connotation
​Foreground position	​Importance - detail Hogarth wants you to see
Pub sign title - "Health to the Barley Mow"	Dancing figures denote health and happiness. Top figure carries tankard, insinuates beer is both cause and reward. The barley harvest is large - association of beer with plentiful and productive harvests. Barley used in beer production, insinuates a booming agricultural sector that is rewarding and stable.
There is a pub here	A sanctioned, reputable place to enjoy alcohol

Artist

Denotation	Connotation
Thinner physique	Does not eat as much
Tattered clothing	Cannot afford to make new or mend (or simply does not care). Combined with physique is this a depiction of the 'starving artist' trope?
Art palette & brushes	Spends his money on his tools and not himself, his craft is what is important to him
Hanging bottle	He is using reference for the sign he is painting, he takes pride in his work
Smiling face	He is happy in his work [despite any negative aspects above].
Foregrouond position	Hogarth wants us to take note (to show variety of occupations when seen with traders below?)

Traders​​​

Denotation	Connotation
Foreground position	Important (directly supports the poem below)
Portly physique and happy demeanour	They have plenty to eat and are happy in their work and lives
Well-maintained clothing, with tools about their persons	These are reputable tradesmen, and are respectable
Fishwives	The women who drink beer are reputable as well, with their own trades. There is still a chauvinistic imbalance between them and the men, who are still behaving in a somewhat predatory manner. It is implied this is consensual
Key held by fishwife	Keys are often symbols of freedom and access/membership (e.g. to a merchant guild). This infers the fishwife has personal and commercial freedom.
Newspaper reporting on speech from the King linking commerce and "the art of peace"	Healthy, regulated trade is key to proper society, and is supported by the King as well as both houses of Parliament
Large meat joint and baskets full of fish and vegetables	Merchants who drink beer are prosperous
Cleric drinking beer from a tankard on his way to deliver books (on politics, classic tragedies, painting and socio-economics) to a trunk maker in the city.	The clergy drink beer, it must be 'Godly' and permitted in God's eyes. The skilled craftsmen are intelligent, cultivated and educated self-starters.

The Pawn Broker

Denotation	Connotation
Hand receiving beer through hatch.	The pawn broker won't come out of his dwelling. Is he ashamed? Pawnbrokers had a very poor reputation associated with criminality in the late 18th century [3] Even one such as he wants to partake in drinking beer
The Pawnbroker's building is dilapidated and in need of much repair	Business is very poor for the pawnbroker
Pawnbroking sign is hanging down off of the building	Business is very poor for the pawnbroker Literally, as the sign is falling off of the building, and Metaphorically, as the end of the pole is an arrow, which is now pointing down
Other notes:	The arrow is also a very useful device to aid the visual scanning of the picture, it directs the viewer's gaze from the foreground to the background information.

Background Buildings

Denotation	Connotation
Background position	less important specific information, but provides overall context and setting
The buildings are tall, in good repair, and structured in an ordered manner	This is a civilised, well-managed place to live and do business. There is wealth and prosperity
Union Flag	The people who live and work on Beer Street are loyal and proud Britons
Sun sign	Suns are symbols of light and positivity.
Scaffolding on building	There is regeneration and/or growth. It is a living, breathing part of the city.
Builders drinking beer on the rooftops	These builders have the time to stop and drink beer together. The working conditions here must be favourable.

Sedan

Denotation	Connotation
Woman passenger in an opulent dress	The wealthy visit Beer Street
Man with musket standing nearby, with weapon ported in his right arm	This is a safe location, the bodyguard is not worries about anyone attacking his charge.
Footmen taking a break to drink beer	Carrying the large woman is hard work, and is rewarded by drinking beer. The passenger is not objecting, which implicitly condones the behaviour.

Gin Lane

The Gin House

Denotation	Connotation
Foreground position	Has detail of import that author wants you to see first
Entrance is an underground arch	It is a dark, illicit place Metaphor for Hell / sin, going down under the Earth
Inscription above the door tells people how cheap it is to drink, and they provide clean straw.	The cheap price of gin it part of its temptation They want you to get 'dead' drunk It happens so often it's part of their business model to provide a place for people to lie unconscious
The gin sill hangs above the archway as an advertisement to enter the premises	The hooked nature of the sign over the dark entrance has symbolism of a hook and lure from fishing. While it wouldn't have had contemporary relevance, it reminds me of an angler fish, dangling bait above its viscous maw.

The Starving Man

Denotation	Connotation
Sits on the bottom right of the image	Compositionally, acts as a direct mirror to the happy, plump merchants of Beer Street
Man is wearing ill-fitting clothing, which hangs off of his emaciated body.	Gin is addictive, so much so that you would rather spend your money to buy gin than feed and nourish yourself
The man is unconscious	People who drink gin inevitably end up unconscious in a drunken stupor
His shirt is missing	Gin addicts end up selling even the shirt off of their own back in order to fuel their habit
The dog is looking at the empty glass	Even simple animals realise the cause of his stupor, and are not stupid enough to partake.
There is is a story named "The Downfall of Madam Gin"	In a more tangible metaphor, it suggests gin is responsible for people's ill-fortunes As an intangible metaphor, it mirrors the positive story being read by the fishwife on Beer Street ("A New Ballad on the Herring Fishery")
Notes:	There seems to be a lot of parallels with the contemporary narratives and stigma of substance abuse addicts (e.g. heroin)

Drunk Woman

Denotation	Connotation
Foreground central position	Has a lot of primary visual information that Hogarth wants the viewer to take in
Sits on the steps down to the gin house	Has no self respect as to where they are
Minimal clothing, in poor repair. No visible shoes.	Is poor, with no money for new or repairing her clothes
Her breasts are showing, her child is falling over the railing and she does not seem to notice or care.	She is in such a stupor she is not even aware of what is happening to her child She is a bad mother
She has lesions on her legs and face	She is unwell Could be impetigo, a bacterial skin condition which can be caused by poor hygiene Her smile suggests it's more likely to be scurvy, caused by vitamin C deficiency, which impacts connective tissue. This would explain bruising and lack of teeth.
She is taking something out of a tin	Possibly a snuff box? Suggests connotation that gin use is linked to other substance use.

Mother and Children

Denotation	Connotation
Mother feeding gin to baby	Gin is drunk by poor mothers, who raise the next generation of gin addicts
Children gnawing on bone next to a dog	These children are no more civilised than dogs They have no parental role-models (either because they are drunk or dead) Gin is drunk by poor parents who do not care to take responsibility for their children Similar to modern 'feral children' narrative

Pawnbroker

Denotation	Connotation
The building is foreground, on the left of the image	Compositionally a mirror to Beer Street, however it is more prominent suggesting more importance within the location
The sellers have tattered clothing	The seller are poor and in need of money to buy more gin
They are selling pots, pans, a good coat and tools	They place a higher value on getting drunk on gin than they do looking after themselves, having self-respect and putting in hard work to earn money
The pawnbroker is visible, appraising the goods. He wears expensive-looking clothes and a wig.	The pawnbroker has no fear of being seen He is making a lot of money lending money for goods. He is in a position of power
The building is strong, sturdy and in excellent condition, an expensive-looking vase sits in the window	Pawnbrokers are making a lot of money. Given their poor reputation in society at the time of publication, the connotation is that these 'crooks' and 'swindlers' are doing good business at the expense of the gin addicts.
The sign is in good repair, hanging from the wall of the building	The perspective provides the arrow-like pole to sit on the page in an upwards direction, a metaphor for success?

Crowds

Denotation	Connotation
Crowd of people fighting, many have injuries or impairments	Drinking gin makes you violent and uncivilised, and leads to life-changing injuries. Gin is responsible for civil unrest
Man being carried in wheelbarrow while been fed gin	Gin encourages antisocial behaviour, and the abuse of tools that could/would have otherwise been used for productive work
Man stealing bellows while also running away with a giant pin that is skewering a child(!)	Gin is drunk by criminals, murderers and deviants

Distillery

Denotation	Connotation
Distillery is open, housing many barrels of gin.	This is not a reputable drinking establishment, and is little more than a warehouse
The distillery seems to be in good repair	Distilleries are making a good amount of money
The distillery is run by a "Mr. Kilman"	This seems like a thinly-veiled play-on-words. Kilman = Kill man. Gin kills men.

Background scene

Denotation	Connotation
Buildings are disordered	Gin leaves chaos in it's wake, it destroys structure and order.
Buildings are in very poor repair, many have collapsed or are in the process of crumbling.	There is no money to look after buildings People are so drunk all the time, they forget to look after buildings, their homes and community
There is the steeple of St George's Church, Bloomsbury in the distance. (This would place the scene close to the current location of Drury Lane)	All the figures in this scene face the viewer: literally and metaphorically turning their back on the nearby church. They turn away from Godly behaviours.
A sign denotes the presence of an undertakers. They operate in the street, placing a dead woman in a coffin while her child weeps on the floor.	People drink themselves to death, and on a scale that it makes sense for an undertaker to take up residence in the locality. People drink themselves to death with no regard to their responsibilities as parents
A dead man hangs by the neck inside a ruined building	Drinking gin leaves you destitute and depressed enough to take your own life

A modern re-interpretation

Gin Lane Revisited by Neal Fox. Digital. Used under educational fair-use copyright policy.

While I was researching this topic, I came across this satirical illustration by Neal Fox made for the Sunday Times. It parodies the rise in popularity of gin in more modern times, alongside other aspects of 'hipster' culture. I think intent in this illustration is to poke fun at the way that something that was the vice of the working class has become a niche luxury of the middle class.

In this regard, I think the illustration is successful. However, on the whole I think the illustration has lost all of the sub-text and nuance of the original. It seems to play entirely on the denotation of gentrification. It has little of the subtle metaphor that Hogarth's original achieves so well.

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References

1. Fox, N. (no date) Gin Lane Revisited, Fine Art Prints by Neal Fox. Available at: https://nealfox.bigcartel.com/product/gin-lane-revisited (Accessed: 07 October 2023).

2. Hogarth, W. (2020) Beer Street, Gin Lane, Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Street_and_Gin_Lane (Accessed: 07 October 2023).

3. Wikisource contributors (2023) ‘Pawnbroking’, in 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. Available at: https://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Pawnbroking&oldid=9275649 (Accessed: 07 October 2023).