The Marriage Settlement, Plate 1

William Hogarth bitingly satirized the follies of Enlightenment high society in Marriage à la Mode, a print series whose title roughly translates as “marriage in the current fashion.” The series follows the story of an incompatible marriage arranged for financial and social gain. Here, the impoverished Earl of Squander gestures to his exalted family tree as he haggles over the marriage contract between his son and a wealthy alderman’s daughter. Uninvolved in the negotiations, the young couple sit side by side completely uninterested in each other. While Viscount Squanderfield gazes at his reflection, his bride-to-be listens to the flirtatious lawyer, Silvertongue, with whom she will later conduct an affair.

A horizontally oriented etching in black ink depicts seven figures, all with light skin tones, in an ornate room. On our left, a man with a bandaged foot sits under a canopy, pointing to a family tree. Centrally, men gather at a table with coins and documents. To our right, a young couple sits back-to-back. Fine cross-hatching shades the scene, and text runs along the bottom. A window reveals scaffolding.

The Marriage Settlement, Plate 1

1745

Gérard Jean-Baptiste Scotin II, William Hogarth

(French, 1698–1760), (British, 1697–1764)

England, 18th century

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