The Great Exhibition "Wot is to Be", Probable Results of The Industry of All Nations in The Year '51, Showing What is to be Exhibited, Who is To Exhibit, in Short How Its All Going to Be Done 1850

Editor: So, this is "The Great Exhibition 'Wot is to Be'," a lithograph from 1850 by George Augustus Sala. It's filled with all these absurd caricatures. Honestly, it feels like a chaotic newspaper comic strip predicting some wild future. What strikes you when you look at this? Curator: I see a biting critique of Victorian society masked as lighthearted humor. Consider the historical context: The Great Exhibition of 1851 was meant to showcase British progress, industry, and empire. Sala, however, uses caricature to undermine that celebratory narrative. Look at the figures – they’re distorted, their ambitions seem ridiculous. What do you think this distortion achieves? Editor: Well, it definitely makes the whole thing seem silly. The Chartist syringe, for example… it mocks political movements, right? And that giant sea serpent being led by a tiny figure... Curator: Exactly. Sala’s targeting of the Chartist movement suggests anxieties around social reform. The "Chartist Syringe" becomes a symbol of what mainstream Victorian society likely viewed as radical or absurd medical treatments for social ills. Similarly, that serpent challenges the idea of easily controlled progress. Could it also comment on Britain's own imperial overreach, its outsized ambitions? Editor: I guess it could. So it's not just a funny drawing; it's making a statement about power and anxieties of the time. I hadn’t thought of it like that. Curator: Precisely. He is making a commentary of society, filtered through a class lens. Ask yourself, who is laughing *at* who, and why? By understanding those relationships, we move beyond mere surface amusement. Editor: I learned so much about the way social and political critique is woven into the humor and images from just a simple looking print! Curator: Yes, now imagine this work sparking dialogue between people from different backgrounds. Consider how current social structures might amplify historical messages in unexpected ways!