Judge — December 22, 1900 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This illustration by Penrhyn Stanlaws satirizes romantic courtship through golf metaphors. A woman in early 20th-century dress swings a golf club while holding a small cherub (Cupid), with a tiny male figure on the string she's extending—depicted as if he's the "ball" in this game of love. The accompanying verse plays on golf terminology: "driving around the links of love," using Cupid as a "caddie" (golf assistant), and the heart as the "ball." The joke suggests that courtship is a manipulative game where women control men through romantic feelings, treating their suitors as playthings to be directed at will. This reflects early 1900s anxieties about female power and agency during changing gender roles.