"The Prisonner of War" from The Complete Works of Béranger 1836

J.J. Grandville made this print, “The Prisoner of War”, sometime in the mid-19th century. It's from an edition of the Complete Works of Béranger, a popular songwriter. Grandville presents us with a domestic scene: a woman sits at her spinning wheel, while another offers her a glass of wine. But, peeking through the window, we see another scene of men brandishing weapons, suggesting a world of conflict and political unrest. The title implies that the woman at the spinning wheel is a ‘prisoner of war.’ The image suggests that not all prisoners are confined by physical walls. France in the mid-1800s was a place of revolution and social change, and Grandville worked as a caricaturist for satirical journals, commenting on the political events of the day. To understand this image fully, scholars might consult historical records, political cartoons, and popular songs to provide insight into the complex relationship between personal lives and political turmoil.