IV. The Arrest
Essay 1: Entropy in Hogarth’s “The Arrest”
By Brian Barringer '25
When initially examining William Hogarth’s panels in A Rake’s Progress, it becomes apparent that the illustrator wants to highlight the critical points which lead to Tom Rakewell’s descent. Tom Rakewell is a man of high status in the London Society, oftenflaunting his wealth around the city. However, his costly expenditures quickly begin to catchup with him as he falls into both a physical and moral decline (Sir John Soane’s Museum).The fourth panel in the series, “The Arrest,” captures the moment when Tom is shown thearrest warrant for his unpaid gambling debts. Due to his hobbies of drinking, gambling, andother indulgences, Tom has lost all of his money and can’t pay off the charges (Sir John Soane’s Museum). Tom Rakewell, a man of wealth, has seen his lifestyle change from one of luxury to being broke and facing the reality of imprisonment. In a scene representing Tom’s initial descent from opulence, Hogarth produces a print that hints at internal chaos for Tom’scharacter as his life rapidly changes. The panel reflects a moment of madness for thecharacters involved, supporting the idea of entropy: all things in the universe naturally movefrom a state of order to disorder. In the case of Tom Rakewell, he faces moral and monetarydisorder as his values have led to a state of financial crisis. The chaotic nature of The Arrest reinforces a common theme of entropy as Tom Rakewell’s life begins to collapse before his own eyes.
The basic idea behind the philosophical framework of entropy is that all things in theuniverse will inevitably change from a state of order to disorder. Although there’s a stigma around the phrase “disorder,” a time of incredible creation arises from a state of uncertainty. Therefore, the only way to solve society's problems is to find proper and innovative solutions. In the case of Tom Rakewell, A Rake’s Progress displays his change from a state ofcontentedness to utter misery. Tom must ultimately reassess his morals to lead a moresustainable lifestyle with nothing else to lose. In this way, entropy can be viewed as a type ofdecay: “Each individual consumer undergoes a development, from immaturity to senescence (Salthe 1989; 1993a), which is imposed, in my view, by the material constraint of informationoverload, acquired through growth of informational constraints, and their fixation as a resultof contingent encounters in the world” (Salthe). Tom’s decisions have caused his personalityto change from a vibrant character to a fragile and frail soul. Ultimately, Tom must learn toendure the chaos of his current situation and make better decisions to increase the quality ofhis life.
Although Hogarth produces a chaotic scene in “The Arrest,” he uses the characters'hands to simplify the situation and to serve as a microcosm to the entire panel. In thepoliceman’s hand rests the arrest warrant for Tom’s action. Clearly upset by the accusations, Tom throws his hands into a palm-up position to display his frustration. In an instance, Tomhas gone from riding in his luxurious carriage to being a broke fugitive. As panic begins toset in, Tom must face the consequences of his actions, leading to the spiral of madness thatfollows in the forthcoming panels. Although Tom wants to act surprised by the arrest warrant, his actions have ultimately led to a point where disorder and chaos must follow. Furthermore, the lady on the left side of the panel holds a purse full of money, hoping to pay off the policeman. Tom’s carelessness with monetary possessions has ultimately led to his downfall and the woman wishes to solve his crisis by paying off the cops with her own possessions (Sir John Soane’s Museum). The idea that people value money over justice speaks toHogarth’s view of society at the time. Only a society in disorder would hold a monetary value greater than equity, ultimately ensuring that London has its priorities backward.
Above the scene of Tom’s arrest, a lamplighter stands focused on the action below. The character symbolizes the poor community of London who struggles daily to provide forthemselves. Unlike the lamplighter, Tom has been gifted a fortune and has little to do withhis abundance of wealth. The contrast between Tom’s character and the lamplighter further supports the idea of chaos in the scene, as Tom can see firsthand what his future may entail.With no money and a warrant out for his arrest, Tom must look towards finding an actual job if he wants to pay the debts which he owes. Furthermore, Hogarth intentionally positions the lamplighter above Tom as he wants to tell the viewer that the lamplighter’s strong morals aresuperior to the pleasures which Tom indulges in.The broken floorboard in the bottom left corner of the panel signals the beginning of Tom's moral collapse. The floorboard looks completely out of place compared to the otherarchitecture portrayed in the scene. All of the buildings appear to be in pristine condition withno signs of deterioration. The stark contrast between the broken floorboard and maintained buildings attempt to show Tom’s current state of mind. His life leading up to the arrest has been filled with enjoyment and never facing the consequences of his actions. The arrest warrant slowly begins to bring Tom back to reality as he is confronted with the idea ofimprisonment. Furthermore, the broken floorboard suggests that Tom’s upbringing led to aninternal foundation with obvious flaws. Slowly more “floorboards” will begin to come loose, leading to a state of chaos. At the time of A Rake’s Progress, Tom, an adult, isn't equipped with the proper devices to deal with adversity. The entropy framework concludes that Tom’s downfall is inevitable, as everything must move from order to disorder. However, if men such as Tom had to endure such suffering, one must question the reason for existence at all. In The Natural Philosophy ofEntropy, the author asks: “why is there anything? Because the universe is expanding faster than it can equilibrate. Why are there so many kinds of things? Because the universe is trying to simultaneously destroy as many different energy gradients as possible in its attempt to equilibrate” (Salthe). The only way for a society to return to a state of order is for the people to learn from their mistakes. As more and more “Truths” about our existence are discovered, mankind will satisfy the Universe’s desires and allow order to return.
Works Cited
"A Rake's Progress IV: The Arrest,a Rake's Progress: 4. the Rake Arrested. Going to Court.” CollectionsOnline, Museum Mile, http://collections.soane.org/object-p43.
Salthe, S.N. The Natural Philosophy of Entropy. Binghamton University.
Essay 2
By William Liuk '25
As made obvious by the title, the print named “The Arrest” by William Hogarth is aboutwhat one would assume... an arrest. The print is one of seven from the collection titled “Rake’s Progress.” The collection follows the downfall of a nobleman from England by the name of Tom. In print number four out of the seven, The Arrest, Tom is halted by a couple of policemen.Tom is arrested for being in debt because he gambled all his money away in the prior scene. One can assume that the author, William Hogarth, portrayed an arrest pertaining to outstanding debtsbecause the same event happened to Hogarth’s father when the young artist was five years old. Some of William’s earliest memories, ages eleven to fifteen, occurred “within the jurisdiction of Fleet Prison... [where] his father was confined to debt” (National Gallery of Art). Hogarth wenton to have a successful career becoming Serjeant Painter to the King in 1757; however, his early childhood in the notorious Fleet Prison held a lasting effect noticeable in his work. The print reveals many forms of corruption such as Plato’s concept of Truth, a metaphor for the old elite, and minor details within the print.
Tom, the protagonist, was on a downward-sloping character development for the entireprint collection: starting as a respected nobleman and ending with premature death in prison. The philosopher Plato, from the fifth century BCE, would state that Tom’s life is corrupting. Everyphysical object decay over time; however, Tom is corrupting at a much faster rate than the norm. This is because Tom was “always surrendering rule over himself to whichever desire comes along” then when finished “he surrenders rule to another” (Plato 1172). Decadent desires leadone on a fast track towards collapse. The major desire that Tom falls victim to is gambling and alcohol in print three. Because he surrenders his rule to gambling and cannot control himself, the protagonist is now arrested and being sent to debtors’ prison.
Along with his idea of corruption, Plato has a concept that he calls Truth—with a capital“T.” In this idea, there is the non-physical realm where things fall under Truth. Then, there is the finite realm where all physical objects are. These objects will never meet the definition of Truth because they are constantly decaying. As time goes on, the physical object moves further andfurther away from the Truth as it corrupts. Although in the finite realm, Tom was near the Truthdefinition of an English nobleman. By the time he was arrested, Tom has corrupted as hesuccumbed to decadent pleasures. The protagonist spirals down while he corrupts even moreafter the arrest; Tom ends up marrying a syphilis-infected woman, then dies in prison. Plato would believe that his collapse is all because of the first decadent pleasure he succumbed to. Starting with simply gambling, “these desires draw him back into the same bad company and insecret intercourse breed a multitude of others” (Plato 1171). Plato will state that every image corrupts with time; however, with how fast he has departed from the image of a respectednobleman, Tom’s life was collapsing along with corruption.
Although the protagonist, Hogarth’s print depicts more than one man corrupting. Analyzing the work from an 18th-century viewpoint, when the prints were published, reveals that Tom can be a microcosm for the entire English noblemen's class. Up until the 18 th century, England was always under strict authority from its monarchy. After the 1700s, England was still under a monarchy but there was a slight power shift. A revolution. In the late 17th century, England had a financial revolution called The Glorious Revolution. During this time, the old elite’s power decayed as there was “financial empowerment of new groups of people” (OxfordHandbooks 13). Knowing of the revolution, Tom can represent the nobleman's shift away fromhierarchical power. Presumably, not many noblemen ended up like Tom... dead in prison.However, the protagonist’s death can represent a foreshadowing of what is still to come as theold elites continue to decay.
Along with Tom, there is much more to the print that represents Plato’s idea of decay. First, the broken stone in the bottom left is a metaphor for the protagonist’s corrupted path. The carriage is pointed in the direction of this broken stone signifying the soon collapse of his life. Through the 7 prints, the protagonist was a respected nobleman whose life ends prematurely injail. Although a minor detail, the stone represents the figurative road that he is currently following. The destructive lifestyle of the protagonist is a warning to all of society. Gamblingand alcohol are societally destructive desires that are present early in the prints. These smallpleasures lead a society to spiral down, succumbing to any desire they come across.Additionally, the man holding up the carriage is decaying like Tom; however, a lot more in aphysical sense. He is the only character who is keeled over, presumably out of pain from carrying the protagonist in his carriage. He gazes back at his master hoping that he can get a restfrom carrying the protagonist from one place to another. There is a clear separation between theupper class and lower-class citizens in the print, made obvious by the clothing and actions ofeach character. A large gap between classes is one of the major faults in an oligarchy accordingto Plato. The two classes "living in the same place (same print as well) and always plottingagainst one another" (1163). Over time, the pain on the poor man's face will turn to hatred. Whenmalicious acts are forged from this hatred, society collapses from within.
In conclusion, William Hogarth’s fourth print in his “Rake’s Progress” collection depictsthe spiraling downfall of a man from the upper class. There is a multitude of lenses that can beused to analyze corruption all over the print, not only focusing on the protagonist. Understanding Hogarth’s upbringing in debtors’ prisons and The Glorious Revolution during the previouscentury reveals the underlying corruption throughout the work. The entire collection can still bea warning of decadence to today's society. There are still broken stones that lie in our society'scarriage path today. Alcohol and gambling are decadent pleasures prevalent wherever one turns.These desires will never become extinct from our society; however, Tom can be a deterrent to today’s society of the corrupt path decadence can pull one through.
Works Cited
Hudson, Nicholas. “Literature and Social Class in the Eighteenth Century.” Oxford HandbooksOnline, 17 Apr. 2015,https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935338.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935338-e-007.
Plato, and John M. Cooper. “The Republic.” Complete Works, Hackett, Indianapolis, 2009.
“William Hogarth.” Artist Info, https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.4363.html.