Brief description
This module is designed to introduce students to the uses of visual evidence, more particularly eighteenth century caricature. Students will learn how to 'read' paintings and cartoons, enabling them to discover explicit and hidden messages in these 'texts'. The role of art and caricature will be examined in relation to: political life; propaganda and nation-building; women and the construction of gender; attitudes towards the lower orders; and views on luxury, consumption and fashion. The work of Hogarth, Gillray, Rowlandson and the Cruickshanks will come under detailed scrutiny, allowing us to trace the progression of the satirical print through the reign of George III until its demise in the early nineteenth century.