Hudibras Catechized, plate nine from Hudibras

<p>The 12 plates in the <em>Hudibras</em> series represent the early work of William Hogarth; they were made before he began publishing on his own. Issued with verses from Samuel Butler’s poem as explanatory captions, <em>Hudibras</em> foreshadows the “moral progresses” for which Hogarth is perhaps best remembered. In this scene, Hudibras visits the woman he is wooing but is surprised by a group of masked attackers. Believing them to be spirits sent by the astrologer Sidrophel, Hudibras confesses his sins and, by extension, the sins of the Puritans as a whole.</p>