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How The Mighty Have Fallen

How The Mighty Have Fallen: Episode 2: Depictions of Obesity

Episode 2

Episode 2: Depictions of Obesity

Depictions of Obesity

BBC Radio 4 - How The Mighty Have Fallen, Depictions of Obesity

How corpulence has been portrayed over the millennia in art, literature and music.

Dr Hilary Jones examines the ways in which corpulence has been portrayed over the millennia in art, literature and music.

"Let me have men about me that are fat" - Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

Continuing his series on the history of obesity, Dr Hilary Jones investigates how corpulence has been portrayed over the millennia in art, music and books.

Obese stereotypes often reveal social attitudes of the day. In literature, they range from Shakespeare's Falstaff and Dickens' 'Fat Boy', Joe, to the most famous fat character of all: Billy Bunter, from the immensely prolific pen of Frank Richards. 

In art, some of the earliest sculptures in existence are small prehistoric statuettes of naked obese 'Venuses'. Cartoons of corpulence were used for satirical effect in the prints of Hogarth and Gillray - and for bawdy humour in seaside postcards. 

Music includes vintage recordings of the 'Too Fat Polka' and 'Nobody Loves A Fat Man'.

There are readings, archive clips, and a visit to Tate Britain's Rude Britannia exhibition. Contributors include Dr Fiona Haslam, a writer on Hogarth, Prof Stephan Rossner of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, and Bunter expert Dr Peter McCall. 

Readings by Toby Longworth & Michael Fenton-Stevens.

Producer: Susan Kenyon
A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.

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