William Hogarth, Marriage A-la-Mode 3

I am always delighted to see students thinking for themselves, though asking them to question their most fundamental assumptions will often feel like pulling teeth. I was recently encouraged when an entire classroom of medical ethics students couldn't stop debating about the problem of STD's (which I am now old enough to remember as VD), and I was almost ready to congratulate myself on a job well done. 

It then occurred to me, however, that they had spent most of the hour arguing over the biology, with very little awareness of the morality. Amidst all the talk about prevention and treatment, a young lady was met with blank stares when she asked about the prevalence of promiscuity. 

"Yeah, but with condoms and antibiotics, does that really need to be an issue?" 

Even when challenged, they just couldn't look past the premise that sex was only about pleasure, which must, of course, be freely pursued, as long as it is somehow "safe". When they see a depiction like Hogarth's, they can't perceive how quickly lust turns us into monsters, who treat one another as mere objects be to be exploited. 

Simply put, would the lesson of this scene be any different if it were placed in a modern setting? Will the so-called miracles of science do anything to remove our personal responsibility? 

The Viscount appears to have gotten himself into a difficult spot. complaining to a quack doctor that the mercury pills meant to cure his syphilis are clearly not effective. There are a number of different ways to interpret the situation: Did he infect the young prostitute, or did she infect him? Is the angry woman with the knife her mother or her madam, or perhaps both? Whatever the scandalous details might be, couldn't all of this have been avoided with a touch of self-control? 

The questionable doctor has all sorts of fancy machines, including one to reset a dislocated shoulder, and another intended to work as an automated corkscrew. As much as we would like to think that the technology will always make it better, there is never any substitute for living with love. 

William Hogarth, Marriage A-la-Mode III: The Inspection (painting, 1743) 

William Hogarth, Marriage A-la-Mode III: The Inspection (engraving, 1743)