The Harlot's Progress, Plate 6

The final plate of The Harlot’s Progress represents Moll’s funeral. Most of the “mourners” are fellow prostitutes and do not appear to heed the cautionary lesson of Moll’s short life. In the background, one woman is preoccupied by admiring her own reflection in the mirror, while some prostitutes in the foreground have taken the opportunity to ply their trade. On the left a preacher, staring into space—while spilling his drink into his lap—delves beneath the skirt of the woman next to him.

Although Hogarth’s idea of the word “progress” was inspired by the popular moralizing Christian tale, The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678) written by John Bunyan, Hogarth deliberately subverts the original book’s meaning. Unlike Bunyan’s protagonists, Hogarth’s characters do not learn or grow from life’s challenges. In The Harlot’s Progress, the cycle of innocence corrupted by vanity, sex, luxury, bondage—whether bound to fashion, a procuress, or a “keeper”—will continue unabated.