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Art and its impact on society
Role of art in society essay
Art and its impact on society
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In the eighteenth century etchings entitled “Beer street and Gin lane",are two prints of English satirist William Hogarth where he supported the drinking beer in comparison to the consumption of gin.These prints were designed side by side so that the viewers see drinking beer as less intoxicating than the evil side effects of gin drinking.At the same time this "Gin lane" a companion of the other printing increased public awareness for drinking, and its deadly consequences led a campaign against the British government economic plan.
Before we move forward some clarifications needed to be made In order to understand the comparativeness of the multiple meaning of Gin lane's degrading activities. we need to know what gin is and how did it entered in england's land. Gin is a cheap and hard spirit that is distilled from grains and berries of juniper is added to its flavor. It was first distilled in Holland in the early seventeenth century, where it is produced as medicine for the stomach discomforts. Gin has a horrible side-effects. it is a memory-diminisher that made people stupid very quickly. The lower class of London was a regular drinker not as a social drinker though, they just wanted to get drunk fast to escape the pain of the difficult lives. it was introduced to England after the arrival of William and Mary from the Netherlands in 1688.This gin business was a part of economic plan of the government, so that they could create the demand for surplus grain.
The first engraving i have chosen to examine is called "Beer street". On Beer street everyone seems happy, healthy,and hard-working . Seem to be Refreshing themselves with drink beer while they are at leisure. Basket full of fresh fishes and the their the ...
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...e is all things are in moderation, even the good use of legal products in moderation is absolutely needed. Hogarth's drawing "Gin lane", made an immediate impact on the general people. During the same year, it was published, sold cheaply to be able to reach as many as hands, the "Gin Act". was passed by the parliament that regulated the sold of the alcohol.
Conclusion: during the age of reason, the famous satirist William Hogarth identified and exposed the problems of the society. He brought these engravings into life and gave them a voice to speak up in a very powerful way. The intention was to bring the change, specially where the changes are needed most, in the lower class of Britain. He was not promoting for Beer consumptions, rather pointing out the danger of peoples' switching from beer, considered healthy, to gin as a drink for drunkards.
As Herie and Skinner state “Beverage Alcohol can be described as a depressant drug which diminishes the activity in parts of the brain and spinal cord in accordance with the amount of alcohol in a person’s bloodstream” (Herie & Skinner, pg. 42). With its long history and unique properties such as the cure of all diseases “prolongs life, clears away ill humours, revives the heart and maintains youth”, alcohol is often related to tradition and expressions; many of these traditions are adaptation from earlier times where it was believed alcohol reflected water of life (Herie & Skinner, 2010). This is quite evident in Days of Wine and Roses where Joe is first seen drinking because “it was part of his job” and because “he had to because of everyone
During these times, domestic violence was commonplace and many blamed alcohol as the culprit. Reformers also noticed that alcohol decreased efficiency of labor and thought of alcohol as a menace to society because it left men irresponsible and lacking self control. One reformer, named Lyman Beecher, argued that the act of alcohol consumption was immoral and will destroy the nation. Document H depicts the progression of becoming a drunkard from a common m...
Enacting prohibition in a culture so immersed in alcohol as America was not easy. American had long been a nation of strong social drinkers with a strong feeling towards personal freedom. As Okrent remarks, “George Washington had a still on his farm. James Madison downed a pint of whiskey a day”. This was an era when drinking liquor on ships was far safer than the stale scummy water aboard, and it was common fo...
Did you know that in the 1920s the American government poisoned alcoholic beverages to stop excessive use of it from the consumers? Of course, this happened during Prohibition which was the America government’s attempt to stop and illegalize the manufacture and marketing of beer. Surprisingly, Prohibition lasted from 1920 until 1933.Throughout the prohibition period, many famous and infamous leaders rose, such as Alphonse Capone, Carry Nation, and Adolphus Busch. Expectedly the use of alcohol during the 1920s caused strong and respectable men to become diverted dull and to be extremely abusive to their spouse and children; therefore causing it to be a necessity to be abolished in the eyes of the American government. “We Sang Rock of Ages”: Frances Willard’s Battles Alcohol in the late 19th century is a selection from an autobiography by Frances Willard in which it provided detailed report of her experience participating in a temperance movement. Frances Willard’s literary piece uplifts the idea of humane purity against foul and slow working toxins that are capable of corrupting the most innocent kind of men, and stresses the importance for men to not be pressured to follow the crowd. Frances Willard’s “We Sang Rock of Ages” essay indicated the temperance movement’s pursuit to heal social morals, abolish the excessive use of alcohol, and target slaves of alcohol to turn to God through prayer as well as song.
Art and substance are sometimes concomitant. One verdant drink, Absinthe, is a landmark to an era long passed among the modern age’s most brilliant artistic minds. Although originally used for medicinal treatment, it was consumed ravenously by such famous individuals such as Hemingway, Van Gogh, Degas in Parisian cafes. However, the rise of the prohibitionist movement and fear of its narcotic effects led to its ban across western Europe in 1915. Nevertheless, its resurging popularity stands as a testament to a yearning of the radicalism and change at the turn of the century.
Mini-Q Essay A time period known as The Age of Reason or The Enlightenment was when philosophy, politics, science and social communications changed drastically. It helped shape the ideas of capitalism and democracy, which is the world we live in today. People joined together to discuss areas of high intellect and creative thoughts. The Enlightenment was a time period in which people discussed new ideas, and educated people, known as philosophers, all had a central idea of freedom of choice and the natural right of individuals. These philosophers include John Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith, and Mary Wollstonecraft.
Prohibition was a long period of time in U.S. history that lasted nearly fourteen years. The manufacturing, transportation, and sale of liquor was made completely illegal. The period of time known as the prohibition led to the first and only time that an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was repealed. Prohibition was also known as the “Noble Experiment”. Intoxicating liquors were outlawed and many people were very upset about this. Speakeasies, glamor, and gangsters came up in this time and characterized this period in history. Even the most average citizen was known to break the law (Rosenberg). After the American Revolution drinking was definitely on the rise and most people did it. According to Burns and Novick, Prohibition turned law-abiding citizens into criminals, made a mockery of the justice system, caused illicit drinking to seem glamorous and fun (PBS).
Even though politicians and historians view political cartoons differently, historians can now look back and truly capture the minds of the American people during the 1920s. This political cartoon, “The Modern Devil Fish,” illustrated by Victor Hugo, was published in a 1925 issue of the Chicago Tribune. This specific cartoon was used as propaganda to promote the Prohibition Party and encourage the support of voters by addressing the usual arguments against the legal status of alcohol. It also was used as propaganda to show the far reaching effects of its use on American society, as demonstrated by the labels on each of the octopus’ tentacles, ranging from ‘partnership with thieves’ to ‘traffic in girls’ to ‘political corruption.’ The fight for prohibition had been an ongoing one, but it had become clear to those rallying to ban liquor that the power of the vote would be the only way to ‘slay’ the saloon monstrosity – pictured here as the knife labeled ‘votes,’ driven into the head of the creature by a hand bearing the name of the Prohibition Party. By destroying the center of the problem, saloons, the knife wielding political party is destroying all of the problems connected to it. In reality, the issues on each tentacle were far from solely the fault of alcohol consumption, but the Party was making an effort to get votes and inspire support, thus exaggerating the point of the prohibition issue. The hope of Hugo as he illustrated this cartoon was clear – that people who understood it would recognize the evils of a nation which does not prohibit saloons and the like subjects itself to by not utilizing the ‘knife’ of Prohibition Party votes. The cartoonist with his drawings could say more in one cartoon than could be said by a spee...
During the 1920’s many different people had problems with dinking, and it was a very controversial topic for people in many different age groups. Patterson, New York’s website explains that from the early beginnings of our country there has always been the controversial topic of alcohol, the way that people abuse and how they act under the influence of alcohol. Starting almost one hundred years before prohibition groups began forming to try and teach their peers about the “evils” that they associated with drinking. For the groups supporting the banning of alcohol they saw alcohol and its effects as representing poverty and other social ills that were going on in America (The Prohibition Area). Some of these opinions on the evils of alcohol are still prevalent in today’s society.
If one was to look at colonial America with no knowledge of the future, the thought of millions of people promoting alcohol regulation and abstinence would be unimaginable. As hard as it is to assign general characteristics to colonial America, it is clearly evident that alcoholic beverages were extensive in consumption, to the point where they were among the main forms of liquid nourishment. It was so extensive that "Estimates for 1790, at the end of the colonial period, place per capita consumption of absolute alcohol (the alcohol content of alcoholic beverages) at three gallons, about one and a half times the amount of per capita consumption in the United States today. Despite staggering consumption rate, the relatively high level of per capita consumption failed to produce widespread concern about drinking.
One of the biggest controversies of the twentieth century is the eighteenth amendment. Mississippi was the first state to pass the bill of prohibition. From there on out the entire country followed in Mississippi’s lead in the crusade of prohibition. The eighteenth amendment was a law, which tried to reform and protect the American people against alcohol, as some called, “the devil’s advocate”. The outcome of prohibition was more negative than positive and reeked more havoc than good on the American society.
In the 1600's and 1700's, the American colonists drank large quantities of beer, rum, wine, and hard cider. These alcoholic beverages were often safer to drink than impure water or unpasteurized milk and also less expensive than coffee or tea. By the 1820's, people in the United States were drinking, on the average, the equivalent of 7 gallons of pure alcohol per person each year (“drinkingprohibition” 1). As early as the seventeenth century, America was showing interest towards prohibition. Some people, including physicians and ministers, became concerned about the extent of alcohol use (“There was one...” 1). They believed that drinking alcohol damaged people's health and moral behavior, and promoted poverty. People concerned about alcohol use u...
The Enlightenment period, also known as The Age of Reason, was a period of social, religious, and political revolution throughout the 18th century which changed the thoughts of man during this “awakening” time. It was a liberation of ignorant thoughts, ideas, and actions that had broken away from the ignorant perception of how society was to be kept and obeyed thus giving little room for new ideas about the world. Puritan society found these new ideas of thought to be extremely radical in comparison to what they believed which was a belief of strong rational religion and morality. Enlightened society believed that the use of reason would be a catalyst of social change and had a demand of political representation thus resulting in a time in history where individualism was widely accepted amongst the new world. Puritan society believed strongly in myth, magic, and religious superstitions that was immensely used by the Puritans before democracy, capitalism, and the scientific revolution gave rise from the Enlightenment period.
Alcohol consumption was at an all time high at the late 1820s. “Elbridge Boyden, architect and builder, said that alcohol was used as commonly as the food we ate.” It was a symbol of hospitality and fellowship. Drinking and fighting (a knock-down) went together. The violent fights involved “gouging,” in which a person looses an eye.
The 18th century was known as the Age of Reason, where the focus was on the search for truth and clarity in the world of disorder through reason. Alexander Pope displays his views and beliefs on world through his infamous poem "Essay on Man." Pope depicts the role of nature in the 18th century by setting the poem in a garden. Not only does the garden parallel John Milton's "Paradise Lost," the garden symbolize the limitations of man. Pope wants to convey the importance of how man must accept his own limitations and lead his life to "vindicate the ways of G-d to man." However, we must yield to our pride and take responsibilities of our actions by not blaming G-d. “Cease then, nor order imperfection name: Our proper bliss depends on what we blame.”