Anglais Bac Pro : "Beer Street" et "Gin Lane" de William Hogarth (1751) : donner un conseil, exprimer une éventualité

31 mai 2007

Anglais Bac Pro : "Beer Street" et "Gin Lane" de William Hogarth (1751) : donner un conseil, exprimer une éventualité

OBJECTIFS : objectifs culturel (faire découvrir ce peintre) et linguistique (rebrassage de l'expression de la modalité : donner un conseil, exprimer une éventualité).

1. Les élèves effectuent des recherches au CDI sur William Hogarth.

When and where was he born ? When did he die ? What arts made him famous : music sculpture engraving photography painting ? Name the title of one of his works. What does this title mean in French ?

2. Mise en commun des réponses, puis présentation de Beer Street, sans dévoiler le titre.

When does the scene take place ? In the 18th century. What can you see ? People, houses, a town, a tavern in the foreground, a church in the background (a view of London). What do these people look like ? They are fat and they look happy and healthy. What are they doing ? Most of them are working or have jobs : some are repairing the street, we can see a painter, two fishwives, builders, a bookseller ... In the foreground they are drinking beer and flirting with women.

The title of the engraving is Beer Street. What is the painter's message ? He means that when people drink beer, they are healthy and happy, the city is prosperous, everything is all right. [At the time beer was thought to be the healthiest of all drinks, but now we think that drinking too much beer can be bad.]

3. Présentation de Gin Lane, sans dévoiler le titre.

What's the atmosphere like ? Sad, tragic, dramatic. Why ? A house is crumbling in the background to the right. There is a very thin man dying at the bottom right. In the middle foreground a drunk mother who's reaching for tobacco has dropped her baby from her lap. At the far right, a woman is feeding a baby a cup of gin. In the distance people seem to be fighting. Apparently nobody is working, except for the pawnbroker to the left. (His house is identified by the display of three balls - most shops then had signs with pictures or symbols representing their business since most of the population couldn't read.) The pawnbroker is lending money to a carpenter and his wife in exchange for tools (a saw) and pots.

The title of the engraving is Gin Lane. Why are these people so poor and unhappy ? Because they drink too much gin.

4. Trace écrite : les élèves récapitulent quelques différences (opposites) entre les deux dessins :

In Beer Street masons are repairing a house whereas/when in Gin Lane a house is crumbling.

What is Hogarth's message to the working class ? Use the imperative form, must/mustn't, should/shouldn't. Don't drink gin./You should drink beer instead of gin./Don't become addicted to gin.

What can happen if people drink too much gin ? They can fall ill and die./They can lose their jobs and become poor.

MORE INFORMATION :

Why was beer looked on more favorably ? For one thing, gin was a much stronger alcoholic drink than beer. Also, beer was made in England, and gin was a foreign import. Moreover without adequate water and sewage systems, the water quality in cities like London was usually poor, and beer was probably a safer drink than water.

Notable admirers of the engravings, among whom Charles Dickens, noted that their real message was to warn against the horrors of poverty, not simply alcohol.

Hogarth wasn't exaggerating. From 1690 onward, the British government had encouraged the industry of distilling, as it helped prop up grain prices, which were then low, and increase trade, particularly with colonial possessions. By 1750, over one fourth of all residences in St Giles parish in London were gin shops. After an alarming increase in crime in London, Hogarth's friend Henry Fielding (the author of Tom Jones), who was a judge, wrote a report blaming most of the crime on the new and "dangerous passion" for gin, which was cheap and could be sold without licence. In response to this report (and maybe Hogarth's prints as well, which were produced at the height of what became known as the London Gin Craze), the government passed the 1751 Gin Act. It reduced the number of gin shops in London and increased police authority.

5. Production écrite (selon le niveau des élèves) :

les élèves réalisent réalisent une affiche pour une campagne d'information contre l'abus d'alcool à notre époque, sous forme de collage comportant un slogan et un court texte.
ou encore, ils donnent des conseils aux personnages suivants (impératif, must/mustn't, should/shouldn't) en argumentant avec can sur les risques qu'ils encourent (santé, problèmes familiaux ou professionnels).