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Gin was the cocaine of 18th century England -- and an import from the wicked Continent, according to the patriotic English point of view. Here gin is associated with death, destruction, and degradation. The drunken mother lets her baby fall as she reaches for snuff, the pawnbroker is besieged by tipplers desperately in need of money to buy gin (one sells a saw, the tool of his trade), and the mother on the right gives her baby gin to pacify it. In the second-story room we can see that the barber has hanged himself -- since no one on Gin Lane cares about grooming. An inscription below the print says that gin brings on theft, murder, and perjury. |
On the other hand, beer was the traditional drink of England. Instead of the skeletal types who drink gin, here chubby, well-fed people socialize and take a break from their labor to have a tankard of beer. Here the pawn shop crumbles from disuse--people are living within their means. A beer barrel is suspended from the sign in contrast to the coffin in Gin Lane. An inscription below the print reads: "Beer, the happy produce of our isle." |
