The Harlot's Progress (1733), The Rake's Progress (Ms., ca. 1778-1780)Cibber, Theophilus
General
The Harlot's Progress (1733), The Rake's Progress (Ms., ca. 1778-1780)
Cibber, Theophilus
English drama -- 18th century
On the stage, Cibber shifts the Hogarthian tone from an ineluctable
moral formula (the wages of sin equal death) to one that transforms
social and moral punishment into lyrical pageantry. To accomplish this,
he uses the mechanical humor of harlequinade and omits three grim
occasions portrayed by Hogarth: Hackabout's apprehension by Sir John
Gonson in a garret (Pl. 4), her early death from venereal disease (Pl.
5), and her funeral with its morally dubious mourners (Pl. 6). Cibber
replaces the potential moral commentary of these three prints with stage
antics and dance. Cibber's harlot "Kitty" is sent to Bridewell like
Hogarth's Moll Hackabout (Pl. 4), but her punishment there turns
magically into a dance.
The "Keeper" forces her and other women to beat hemp, but the blocks
suddenly disappear; in their stead appear her lover Harlequin, with
Scaramouch and others, and all "dance off" to the "Ridotto al'Fresco,"
while the Keeper "runs away frighted." The threat of punishment vanishes
with the blocks. At the "Ridotto," in a stage set depicting a Vauxhall
scene, people appear in masquerade, and a grand "Comic Ballad" is
performed to various musical tunes. But this is not the end of the
pantomime, for yet to come is "The Judgment of Paris," John Weaver's
"Dramatic Entertainment" after the "Manner of the Ancient Greeks and
Romans," which had premiered in February 1733.[10]
Though he was quite consciously imitating Hogarth's "Celebrated
Designs," Cibber's directions do not specify that costuming duplicate
Hogarth's contemporary London figures such as the notorious Mother
Needham, Colonel Charteris (Pl. 1), Justice Gonson (Pl. 4), or the
quarreling doctors Misaubin and Rock at Moll's deathbed (Pl. 5).[11] In
addition to changing the name "M. Hackabout" to "Kitty" the "Country
Girl," Cibber dubs his Charteris character "Old Debauchee," Needham
"Madame Decoy," and the Jew who keeps Kitty, "Beau Mordecai."
The comic element asserts itself in the first stage scene as Harlequin
hides in Kitty's trunk and then disguises himself as a cadet, imitating
Hackabout's lover in Hogarth's second print. During this stage trick,
Madame Decoy sings new verses to an eighteenth century ballad
celebrating the innocent beauties of rural poverty (Air I, "What tho' I
am a Country Lass"). Clearly, audiences familiar with the more biting
pictorial scenes of a harlot's life would be easily diverted, even
relieved, by the elaborate mixture of Greek and Italian elements, and
the flourish of songs in the parodic ballad opera tradition. Cibber of
course capitalized on the occasion, popularity, and familiarity of
Hogarth's six prints in 1733, but his theatrical realization clarifies
the quality of pantomimic entertainment with its numerous contemporary
graphic allusions, revealing an aborted moral embellished by a splay of
music and masque.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account