Cries of London

     Part Three of Jean Rhys' Voyage in the Dark begins with the protagonist Anna visiting Miss Ethel Matthews. The section of the book begins "There were the Cries of London in the dining room. I remember the way they hung, and the bowl of water in front of the gas-fire, and always a plate of oranges in the middle of the table, and two armchairs with chintz cushions..." (139). In her memory of Ethels' house Anna remembers the Cries of London hanging on the wall which were a series of prints published between 1792 and 1796 (http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~awoodley/cries/) by William Marshall Craig and later engraved by Edward Edwards (http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-cries-of-london). The subjects of these prints were street traders/venders in London who were pictured "hawking" cherries, mackerel, oranges, strawberries, matches, roses, chair mending services, and knife sharpening. The prints are called the "cries" because the venders would typically sing out songs about the product they were selling in an attempt to attact buyers (http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~awoodley/cries/chairs.html). I think this is very interesting as our discussion of Voyage in the Dark has centered on the ideas of material culture, commodification, and the exchange of money. I can imagine that Anna’s necessary fixation of her next endeavor to earn money would cause her to pay special attention to prints that represent economic exchange. Since these prints were fairly common as reproduced engravings one can imagine that Anna would have experienced these images numerous times which parallels her fixation of the acquisition of wealth. Also, in the novel Anna quickly acknowledges the paintings of people earning an honest living before refocusing her attention on the conversation with Ethel about finding a job as a masseuse. I believe there could be some commentary on the fact that the thought of earning a living on her own merit, rather than sleeping with men for money, seems unattainable to Anna which causes her to switch her attention to a new topic so quickly.  Rhys presents the ideas of professions of street vending and massaging in the same page which seems to overwhelm Anna.