The Rake's Progress, Plate 7

Tom is now in The Fleet, a debtors’ prison. This must have been very personally relevant for Hogarth as his family spent much of his childhood living in the jurisdiction of Fleet Prison since his father was an inmate there.

Tom’s previously plump wife, standing beside him, is now emaciated, indicating their desperate financial circumstances. In order to raise some cash, Tom has written a play, which lies on the table next to him. Nearby is a rejection letter that reads, “I have read your Play & find it will not do[e].” Tom’s fellow inmates are also trying various schemes to buy their freedom, illustrating just how impossible it was to get out of debt in Georgian Britain.

Sarah Young also reappears in this scene; she has come to visit Tom with their child, and she has fainted after seeing him in this hopeless situation. Simply overwhelmed by everything, Tom goes into a state of shock.