The Crimson Legion

Suzuki Haronubu (1765)

Maggie is first described in Stephen Crane's Maggie, A Girl of the Streets as a prostitute when she is identified as "a girl of the painted cohorts" (71). At the start of the chapter she is walking down the street, avoiding the gazes of "metropolitan" men while "giving smiling invitations to men of rural or untaught pattern." When she finally reaches her destination, there is a man who is first described simply as a "great figure" (62). Crane's word choices used to describe not only Maggie's customer but also used to describe Maggie herself and their surrounding at the time are very Satanic in nature. The man is then described as having small eyes "sparkling from amidst great rolls of red fat" and Maggie is simply "the girl of the crimson legions." Here Crane references the Crimson Legions of Hell and puts the man in the position of the devil who is working to lure Maggie into Hell by having her solicit her body to him. In the last paragraph of this chapter, Maggie has been completely lured into Hell by the "great figure" when Crane says that "at their feet the river appeared a deathly black hue... varied sounds of life... came faintly and died away to silence." (63).

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Salon at the Rue des Moulins, 1894

Prostitution can be simply defined as the act of sexual services in return for payment. The global prostitute industry is estimated at over $100 billion. While easy to define, prostitution gets far more complicated when it comes to its history as well as its legal, social, and economic statuses. In Ancient Greece, brothels where not condemned but rather regulated. In fact, prostitutes were recognized enough that they had to pay taxes which is in stark contrast to the US where prostitutes can be charged a felony and receive a 15 year jail sentence.