First stage of cruelty 1751

Editor: This is William Hogarth’s "First stage of cruelty", an engraving from 1751. It depicts children torturing animals. It's… well, quite disturbing. What symbols and imagery stand out to you in this piece? Curator: The most immediate is, of course, the brutal treatment of animals, but let's look closer. Consider the scratched names on the post – Thomas Nore and other individuals are claiming ownership, perhaps of a dark deed? Look how one boy pierces an animal's eye. What is the lasting impression of that moment of piercing, in you? Editor: The way all of the figures seem engaged in violence. Like, the act of piercing is happening to all of us at once. Even those seemingly watching are implicated, a mirror of complicity. I suppose you're saying, these children represent society. Curator: Exactly. It speaks to a deep anxiety about social order, that violence begets violence. But also the inscription that suggests there is someone named “Nore,” and other children whose name starts with "T", implies a continuity of trauma, or repeated deeds. The "First Stage" suggests that is a narrative or a morality tale, with other stages involved. Hogarth suggests here not just action but a kind of symbolic predetermination. Is it enough for people to say “we all witnessed it?” How might we actively interrupt cycles of harm? Editor: So, even in something that appears to be simply illustrative, we can see the layers of a broader societal critique and intergenerational trauma. Curator: Indeed. Hogarth invites us to see beyond the surface and ask what structures underpin such behaviour, what dark legacy they might inherit, what collective history compels us to witness such suffering, what stories of the soul drive their deeds. Editor: That gives me a lot to think about regarding how images carry meaning. Curator: For me too. Seeing such works connects us not only to the past but also to the symbols that still unconsciously inform our world.