Blog Post #1-Close Reading of Gustave Dore’s Illustration

Though I closely examined all of Dore’s work in his collection of illustrations titled London: A Pilgrimage, for my close reading I settled on image #9 in the collection. This image portrays the housing developments of the time in London. There are a few aspects of these developments that really stood out to me. First of all, the are all connected in a row, with absolutely no space in between each of them from side to side. The main row of the houses featured as the subject in the illustration seems to go on almost into the foreseeable future as it may be. Viewers of the image can tell that the houses represent lower class living because not only are the houses all crammed next to each other, but they are very small in terms of the width of each home. They all span only the width of one window, with what would appear to be a few feet of space on each side of the window. Even without ever having been in these houses, viewers can almost feel how tiny they would be just by looking. Each house does have a back patio, where some people are featured to be utilizing in the image. This space contradicts the modern use of a back patio, how most would see it as extra space to use to enjoy the outside while at home. But, these spaces are strictly seen as functional—with many of them having laundry lines and barrels for storage. This again emphasizes the idea of the poorer working class inhabiting these houses.

Another characteristic of this image is the ominous tone it gives off to viewers. It almost seems as though there is no sunshine at all in the sky, everything looks so dreary and dark. Considering that whatever medium Dore used to create this piece was just black or gray, it is evident that no actual color was ever going to exist, but viewers can get a good idea of how the tone is intentional through his shading. Dore makes the sky look darker than the subject of the housing, and it almost seems as though he’s casting some sort of shadow on the row as it moves further back in the image. Since this illustration is depicting housing of that of the lower class, the tone of the image seems to mimic how people view this class of Londoners. Overall, the piece gives a very specific idea of London living, one that most viewers most likely do not want to experience.

This illustration by Gustave Doré depicts a group of people, mainly children, huddled together on the side of a street in the night time. The mood of this illustration is overwhelmingly dreary. Overall it is a very dark image—the brightest point being the street lamp in the upper left-hand corner. The faces of the people are not only dark but are rather miserable as well. They are huddled together, sharing blankets, as if the only source of warmth they have is each other. The objects laying in front of the two main adults in the image look as though they could be all the belongings of this family, from vases to a violin. Such a dark, depressing image is clearly meant to evoke similar emotions in its viewer, as one cannot help but feel sorry for the people in the illustration. The image definitely appears to be a commentary on the living conditions that affected particularly women and children in London in the mid to late 19^thcentury. It is heartbreaking to see people living in conditions such as this—in the cold on the side of the street—but it is especially so to see children, or what could possibly be a family, suffering in this manner.

This illustration is reminiscent of William Blake’s poem “London” which details the tragedy that is the society of common men, women, and children in London. Within the first stanza, Blake says he marks “in every face I meet/ marks of weakness, marks of woe.” In this image, every individual has a face marked by woe. Both this illustration and Blake’s poem mark a dreadful time in London’s history and depict the miserable conditions of the every-day people.

I found the first image of Gustave Dore’s series to be a very revealing cover page as it relates to the themes that appear through out the series of illustrations. “London” is written in a creepy font which in combination with the gloomy, cloudy sky in the background contribute to the ominous tones that come from this image. The man is carrying what appears to be an embellished oar. He is resting on a small boat and is dressed in rags which I thought represented a significant contrast to the thoughtful design of the decorated oar. 

The facial expressions of the man and lion are key to the message I found in this image. The man’s facial expression emits defeat, a falling from power, some anguish, and sorrow. The lion appears to be giving a stern look of disappointment and anger towards the man. I found the lion to have a scornful expression that accounts for the sorrow that appears to be coming from the man’s facial expression. These significances lead up to what I think is one of the most significant aspects of this image which is the setting. The man and the lion are resting under a bridge, assumingely having been cast out of society and what ever position they held in it previously. The lion is a regal icon, and its presence under a bridge represents a long fall from power. Furthermore, the lion appears to be filthy. The metaphor that the lion is the “king of the jungle” seems to be playing an important role in this image as the man has fallen from what ever noble position he previously held and his undignified demeanor resembles that of the dirty lion. 

I think this is a great cover image for the series as the theme of poverty is seen throughout the series. I think Dore was trying to express the troubling social and financial conditions that existed in London during the 19th century, and this image has many things going on to express that.