The Harlot's Progress, Plate 3

Having insulted and betrayed her wealthy keeper (in Plate 2), in this scene, Moll has been cast out and “demoted” to the position of a common prostitute. No longer kept in the finest home, Moll’s room is cramped and dilapidated and the modest furnishings are well-worn. Looking around the room, evidence—like portraits of Captain Macheath and Dr. Sacheveral, and a wig box for James Dalton—suggests that Moll is now forced to entertain multiple clients in order to make ends meet. In the lower right corner of the print, a tankard contains a partial address, “…in Drury Lane,” which was located in Covent Garden, an area of London that was renowned for its brothels.

Moll looks alluringly towards the viewer, unaware that Justice John Gonson and his bailiffs have come to arrest her. The bottles of medicine around the room suggest that the small black spots on her face are more than just fashionable face patches and are, in fact, hiding the tell-tale signs of syphilis.