Judge, 1913-01-04 · page 16 of 26
Judge — January 4, 1913 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece, titled "An Educational Episode," mocks the social priorities of upper-class women in the early 20th century. Two women—Helene (an older, wealthy widow) and Myrtle (a younger woman learning piano)—discuss musical education. The satire targets how young women were trained: ostensibly to become cultured "virtuosos," but actually to attract wealthy husbands. Myrtle confesses she prefers "masculine symphonies"—her code for handsome, well-dressed men with either dark or light hair and, crucially, *money*. Helene reveals the brutal truth: a woman needs a rich husband, preferably one with an heir (or lacking heirs, one with millions to inherit). The final joke undercuts all pretense: Myrtle imagines playing piano to entertain suitors after her social debut. Helene scoffs—no young man will tolerate a piano "intervening" between himself and courtship. The cartoon illustrates this conversation, showing the performance of culture masking transactional marriage-hunting. The satire critiques how women's education served patriarchal economic interests rather than genuine intellectual development.
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AN EDUCATIONAL “ My dear child,” said Helene, while Myrtle improvised in e as a relief from long attention to one of Liszt's Hunga- sodies, “ you may yet becomé a virtuoso. But really, r like ragtime better.” Don't you care for symphonies >” “Not musical symphonies. Symphonies of costume appeal to me more nearly. And masculine symphonies.” “ What is a masculine symphony ?” “Masculine symphonies differ, my dear. When you get a little older you will recognize some olive-complexioned young man with very dark hair, perfect features, small, aristocratic hands and feet, and immaculate in dress as a masculine sym- phony. A light-haired man, somewhat older yet in other d tails resembling the younger man | have described, is my idea of a masculine symphony.” “Oh!” exclaimed Myrtle. “ How strange!” EPISODE. “Rather, how natural, my dear! But there is one detail 1 have omitted. Of course | mean in your case an heir to mil lions. In mine | mean an owner of millions without an heir.” “Oh!” cried Myrtle again. “And are you really to persist at the piano until you be- come a prodigy?” “Mamma sa: finished thusi “Why?” asked Helene. public, I hope.” “Oh, no! But I must be proficient, really. | may be asked to entertain in our own circle, you know. And when | attract the attention of marriageable young men—as | may after come out—it will be nice to play for them evenings, will it not?” “Simple child! Do you think any young man will permit a piano to intervene?” HJ. A. Walton that every girl in my station should be a You don’t expect to appear in comicbooks.com