Judge — May 9, 1903 — page 5: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a humorous cartoon about courtship and marriage from *Judge* magazine. The joke plays on a common stereotype about married couples: that wives must speak loudly to be heard by their husbands, implying husbands deliberately ignore their wives. The scene shows two women (Clarice and Corinne) in an interior setting. Clarice notices that Corinne's fiancé appears deaf. Corinne's response suggests that she already must shout at him—a behavior she associates with being married, not engaged. The humor lies in the implication that marital dynamics (where wives feel unheard) have prematurely arrived in their engagement. This reflects early 20th-century gender and marital satire, mocking both male inattentiveness and wives' frustration with it.