Analyse af William Hogarths 'Gin Lane'

In 1751, William Hogarth drew the image ''Gin lane'' in an attempt to get the British government to regulate the price and popularity of drinking gin. Gin was initially marketed as a drug to help upset stomachs in the Netherlands and later imported to England. It quickly became a cheap drug for the poor in Britain, as many began distilling it and then sold it from their homes.

The reason Hogarth thought the problem was so significant was that it was often the parents who sent the kids down to buy it so the parents could give it to their babies, which the woman to the right in the picture illustrates well.

Hogarth's message of drawing was to show the negative effect gin had on Britain.

The image also shows public drunkenness in Britain's streets and that cheap accessibility is probably due to crime. The crime is made clear to the right in the picture, where a blind man gets his crutch stolen.