William Hogarth, was a famous satirical painter of the late 1600s to the early 1700s. Many of his paintings showed in stark relief the sins that ran rampant through the society of the time. It was also him that created the artistic style of painting several pictures that together created a story, much like a comic book, rather then relying on one picture to tell the whole story. In arguably his most famous work, Marriage a la Mode, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_%C3%A0-la-mode_(Hogarth)) he creates a satire of the then modern marriage. A couple married for money, and for political reasons, are unhappy with each other and then, through the series of paintings first their marriage falls apart, then the husband is murdered and the wife commits suicide. This form of satire is again much in evidence with these two paintings, Before, and After. In before you see what appears to be the courtship of an innocent couple. But in after you see the true message, neither even waited to completely remove their clothing.
