page_title: Industry and Idleness
section_title: Plate 9 — The Idle 'Prentice betrayed (by his Whore), & taken in a Night-Cellar with his Accomplice
hierarchical_section_title: Industry and Idleness / The engravings / Plate 9 — The Idle 'Prentice betrayed (by his Whore), & taken in a Night-Cellar with his Accomplice
caption_attribution_description: English: William Hogarth - Industry and Idleness, Plate 9; The Idle 'Prentice betrayed and taken in a Night-Cellar with his Accomplice
context_page_description: Industry and Idleness is the title of a series of 12 plot-linked engravings created by William Hogarth in 1747, intending to illustrate to working children the possible rewards of hard work and diligent application and the sure disasters attending a lack of both. Unlike his earlier works, such as A Harlot's Progress and Marriage à-la-mode, which were painted first and subsequently converted to engravings, Industry and Idleness was created solely as a set of engravings. Each of the prints was sold for 1 shilling each so 12 for the entire set, which is equivalent in purchasing power to approximately 80 GBP as of 2005. It may be assumed that these prints were aimed for a wider and less wealthy market than his earlier works. The originals currently reside at the British Museum.
context_section_description: Idle has now gone from highway robbery to out and out murder for petty gain. He's shown here examining the effects of the dead man in a hat (probably his) between them, while another man pitches the body down a trap door. They are all totally oblivious not only to the men of the Law coming down the stairs with lit lanterns, but Idle's prostitute being paid one coin for her information. Clearly, Idle is caught without any means of escape.
  The background shows his most congenial surroundings to be the most lawless and depraved possible: playing cards are strewn in the left foreground, men are murdered with no hue and cry, a rope hangs ominously from one of the beams in the ceiling, a syphilitic woman with no nose serves a mug of something, presumably liquor and/or gin, and a massive drunken brawl occupies half of the room, while the others unconcernedly ignore it.
  Note that in some versions the title is "The Idle 'Prentice betrayed by his Whore, & taken in a Night-Cellar with his Accomplice", whereas others remove "by his Whore".
caption: Red-Handed
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