Judge, 1902-08-16 · page 16 of 16
Judge — August 16, 1902 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a romantic satire playing on the word "move." Percy professes passionate love to Gwendoline, asking if his feelings "move" her heart. She responds sentimentally that yes, his love does "move" her. The joke's punchline appears in the final panel: Gwendoline asks Mr. Bumpkins to help her up—revealing that Percy's emotional declaration literally moved her physically (perhaps he was pushing her or she was leaning against him). The humor derives from the gap between Percy's romantic, sentimental language and the mundane physical reality: his love "moved her very, very much" in the most literal sense. This reflects late-19th/early-20th-century satire mocking overly sentimental Victorian romance and the disconnect between flowery declarations and practical everyday life. The cartoonist suggests romantic posturing often masks physical comedy or awkwardness.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
comicbooks.com Pency—‘ Oh, Gwennie, dear! can't you see how | love you? | adore you! Don't you feel in Gwenpouine--" Yeth, | do love you, my love. Your love does move me, my Percy—I feel it your heart, sweet Gwendoline, that I love you? Does tt not MOVE you?" hurry me." 4 Cwenvotne—"' Mister Bumpkins, will you be so good as to help me u IT MOVED HER VERY. VERY MUCH. ‘Socket b Witbetons Litho & Pig Co New York