Accusation
Description:
George IV, pictured as a guard, stands before a door, holding a pole with an evidence bag which reads "BEWARE of the Report of a BAD HOUSE." From the house's open window, Queen Caroline holds a torch, labeled “DEFENCE,” to the bag. Two men, identified as Brougham and Denman, watch the scene from within the window (George 80). The accompanying text draws attention to the head of Queen Caroline: “They found that they couldn’t well cut off her head.” Queen Caroline’s head is indeed attached to her body within the image, though visually separated by means of her collar; of special importance here are the multiple disembodied heads within the illustration. The door itself holds a door knocker in the shape of Athena’s head. The evidence bag and Queen Caroline’s handbag both echo the shape of George IV’s head. Caroline’s hand bag is a pun on the word “reticule”—it is “her ridicule at his ‘Report’!” (George 80)
Copyright:
Copyright 2009, Department of Special Collections, Memorial Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Accession Number:
CA8990
Height (in centimeters):
21
Width (in centimeters):
13
Edition and State
UnknownPrinting Context
The image was originally published in William Hone's pamphlet, The Queen's Matrimonial Ladder. The pamphlet, which went through over 44 editions, was inspired by a children's toy (Hunt 714). Sold along with the pamphlet was a cardboard "ladder" which illustrated the poem's 14 stages with different allegorical engravings, also designed and engraved by Cruikshank. It was later collected in Geo. Cruikshanks Illustrations to W. Hone.Associated Events
Bill of Pains and Penalties (1820)Associated Texts
The Queen's Matrimonial Ladder (1820), by William HoneOn searching for precedents, much to their dread,
They found that they couldn’t well cut off her head;
And the ‘House of Incurables’ raised a ‘Report’
She was not a fit person to live in his Court.
How like an OLD CHARLEY they then made him stand,
In his lantern a leech the ‘Report’ in his hand.
‘Good folks be so good as not go near that door
For, though my own wife, she is —I could say more
But it’s all in this Bag, and there’ll be a fine pother,
I shall get rid of her, and I’ll then get another!’
Yet he thought, to himself,--‘twas a thought most distressing,--
‘If she should discover I’ve been M—ch—ss—g,
There’s an end of the whole! D—rs C—ns, of course,
If my own hands are dirty, won’t grant a D—ce!’
He tried to look wise, but only look’d wild;
The women laugh’d out, and the grave even smiled;
The old frown’d upon him—the children made sport,
And his wife held her ridicule at his ‘Report’!
MORAL.
Be warn’d by his fate
Married, single, and all;
Ye elderly Gentlemen,
Pity his fall!
Subject
Accusation (1820) reveals Cruikshank’s early interest in “reading” heads, even before the growth of phrenology as a popular science. Visual echoes within this image allow several ways to read the head of George IV, here presented as a watchman. One such "echo" is seen in the resemblance of George IV's head to the shape of the evidence bag. The evidence bag was commonly shown in political caricatures concerning both the Queen Caroline affair and the 1817 treason trials as a symbol of the secrecy of the British government (Laqueur 436). The visual echo of the evidence bag in the shape of George IV’s head may suggest that George’s character can be “read” in the same way—that is, we can interpret this parallel imagery as indicative of the secrecy and underhandedness of George IV’s own moral state and political action.Theme
Adultery. Marriage. Media culture. Conspiracy. Regency. Trial. Morality.Significance
George Cruikshank and William Hone's The Queen's Matrimonial Ladder is typical of their collaboration on political pamphlets. Along with the text and other illustrations of the pamphlet, Accusation reflects popular moral and political criticism of George IV's adulterous relationships. Caroline's neglected rights—as a wife, mother, and accused citizen—were equated with the rights of all citizens in radical political pamphlets. Hunt calls the Ladder “perhaps the most successful portrayal of the queen” as a mother figure (714). Ladder was part of the larger media frenzy portraying the Queen Caroline affair; the caricatures of the trial provide “testimony that suggests a changing cultural significance of the monarchy, which was evident in a growing demand for royal morality” (Hunt 721).Function
Political pamphlets were used by both supporters and critics of George IV to reflect and to influence public opinion. Because they could be made and sold cheaply, the pamphlets reached a huge audience and played a key role in both distributing news about George IV's affairs and entertaining their audience.Bibliography
George, M. Dorothy. Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum. Vol. 10. London: Oxford UP, 1952. Print.Long Title
"--A Burning Shame!" -----I will kill thee, if thou dost deny Thou hast made me a cuckold -------What false Italian (As poisonous tongued as handed) hat prevailed On thy too ready hearing?Cymbeline.
Featured in Exhibit:
Engraver:
Delineator:
Image Date:
1820
