The viscount is seating next to his fiance on a small sofa but has turned away from her to look at his own reflection in the mirror. This will clearly not be a happy marriage. Overall, Hogarth’s series engaged with mid-eighteenth century debates and anxieties relating to modern forms of wedlock (Hallett 178). Consequently, the Earl’s foot is clearly bandaged, indicating he suffers from gout, a disease superstitiously regarded as punishment which overtook the dissipated in later life (Webster 102). His greed, the main motive for the marriage, ultimately destroys his daughter-in-law and son. Also indicative of the problems with arranged marriage are the small dogs at the Viscount’s feet, who are unwillingly chained together in much the same way as the Viscount and his bride are metaphorically. The second painting in the series, which Hogarth called The Tte--Tte, could also stand alone as a glimpse into the everyday lives of the 18th century aristocracy. Even if the viewer is not familiar with the series’ first painting, in which the indifferent couple watches their fathers arrange the marriage contract, he can still ascertain the time period, nature of the couple’s relationship (or lack thereof), their class, and the events that have just transpired by piecing together the carefully-placed clues Hogarth leaves. The secrets of a domestic interior have never been more probingly and sharply displayed (Webster 105). The viewer will most likely regard the sleepy couple relaxing in front of the fire first. Their fancy dress immediately joins them together (in contrast to the other two figures, who are both plainly-clothed), thus leading to the assumption that they are the master and mistress of the household. Their fatigue, apparent in the wife’s partially closed eyelids and languid stretch as well as the husband’s poor sitting posture, indicates that they slept so little the night before ...
