Judge — January 22, 1898 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This six-panel satirical sequence depicts a romantic comedy of errors set in a European street at night. A man pursuing a woman is kicked by a jealous rival (panel IV). The kick propels him upward, allowing him to reach a window where his beloved appears (panels V-VI). The satire mocks romantic melodrama: the rival's violent interference accidentally achieves what the lover couldn't accomplish himself—reuniting the couple. The humor relies on physical comedy and the ironic notion that destructive jealousy inadvertently becomes Cupid's instrument. This reflects Judge magazine's typical late-19th/early-20th-century comedic style, using exaggerated situations to mock both romantic entanglements and masculine competitiveness. The title suggests fate rewards persistence, however accidental.