John Bull in a Quandary

This is (so far as I know) Gillray's first attempt to portray John Bull in human (as opposed to animal) form. He is portrayed as a simple citizen of Westminster bewildered by the choice that has presented itself between Whig and Tory during the 1788 Westminster by-election. The subtitle ("Which way shall I turn me, how shall I decide?") is taken from John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, Act III Air 13 when Macheath has to choose between his two lovers, Polly Peacham and Lucy Lockit.

Gillray (or his employers)**, however, are laboring under no such uncertainty.

The choice of the Pitt and his Tory government is Admiral Hood who is shown in naval uniform as if he was about to draw his sword in defence of his country, his foot trampling a French flag. Behind him are French sailors captured by Hood at the Battle of the Saints (shown in the background).

Visually balanced against Hood is the Whig choice for Parliament, Lord John Townshend, the close friend of Charles James Fox. His conquests are not French sailors but young wives, for which (it is implied by the book in his hand) he is being prosecuted by their husbands for criminal conversation (Crim Con) to recover damages. His foot tramples a broken staff of liberty rather than a French flag. And in the background is not a battle from which he has emerged victorious but a gentleman's club, Brooks, known first and foremost for its gambling tables.

The arrangement of John Bull between two different alternatives is derived from Carracci's Choice of Hercules which was much imitated by 18th century artists including Benjamin West in The Choice of Hercules between Virtue and Pleasure and Reynolds in Garrick between Tragedy and Comedy. Although the central figures in John Bull in Quandary are more dramatic and realistic than earlier satires in the emblem tradition, the background and details of the print are completely emblematic and rhetorical. The view of Brooks along side a naval battle scene is, of course, completely impossible, as is the meeting of Hood and Townshend with prisoners and women in tow. Their function is solely to highlight the stark differences between the choices. Gillray was well aware of the traditions of "serious" art and often uses them for his own purposes. At least some of his audience would have enjoyed and understood the visual allusion.

In this case, however, Gillray's artistry and arguments both came to naught. Hood was soundly defeated.

** Draper Hill indicates that in an accounting of election expenses for Admiral Hood, there appears a line item of £20 for "Mr. Gilwray." That likely included expenses for this print as well as the two other anti-Fox/Townshend prints: The Butchers of Freedom and The Battle of Bow Street. But if the date of July 31st on this print is accurate, its appearance might have been considered too late to affect the outcome of the election. And that might, in turn, explain the bad blood between Gillray and the Tories that resulted in Election Troops, Bringing in Their Accounts to the Pay Table.

Sources and Reading

• Commentary from the British Museum on John Bull in a Quandary
• Draper Hill, Mr. Gillray The Caricaturist, 1965, pp.31-32
• "Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood," Wikipedia
• "Lord John Townshend," Wikipedia

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