In the eighteenth century, gambling was the object of many moralising discourses, in essays, plays, newspaper publications and novels, as well as in the visual arts, denouncing the potentially fatal consequences of such an addiction on family fortunes. The satirical representations of Charles James Fox and Georgiana Cavendish, two notorious gamblers and friends , in the shape of playing cards, will be discussed in connection to their gambling addiction and political engagement.
Lastly, the image of card-playing will be examined in the dual representation of female gamblers as victims or agents. The epilogue shows the ways in which the gambling fate of men is linked to Fortuna, the goddess of chance, who equally makes male and female gamblers her playthings. The passage also underlines the threatening power of gambling that could potentially lead to the destruction of social structures in taking away family inheritance, when for instance the estates of families were passed into the hands of other players or were being mortgaged to pay off heavy debts:.
This image of circulating roles in gambling is evocative of the transformative powers of the gambling table that can reverse fortunes and make or unmake reputations. The epilogue also tackles the theme of female addiction to gambling, making an analogy between amorous passions and the passion for card playing:.
As the passage indicates, a form of prostitution loomed large in the cruel fate of some of the female losers who, on some occasions, had to agree to trade sexual favours in exchange for the cancellation of their debts.
Should she win, she would regain her jewels and her money, but should she lose, she would get her jewellery back but lose her honour. It is also worth remembering that jewellery carried a strong association with female sexuality. The sinful nature of gambling was a common trope denounced by moralists in anti-gambling rhetoric throughout the eighteenth century.
