Judge, 1913-09-20 · page 12 of 24
Judge — September 20, 1913 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the gap between what men claim to value rationally in women versus what they actually desire. Hugh, a writer, attempts a philosophical argument with his wife Lulu about beauty being "merely an abstract proposition" — claiming men don't need to find women beautiful to love them. Lulu systematically dismantles his logic, exposing his hypocrisy: he based his own love on considering *her* the most beautiful girl in the world. The final punchline — that Hugh later leaves and they divorce — undercuts his pretense of impersonality. The accompanying "Motor-Cycle Club Mates" cartoon uses Damon and Pythias (ancient symbols of friendship) to mock male bonding. The satire targets male pseudo-intellectualism: Hugh's abstract reasoning masks wounded vanity and romantic delusion, revealing that men's supposedly rational arguments about love are rationalizations for deeply personal, beauty-focused desires.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Were you going out?’’ she asked. “Why, dear,’’ he replied, ‘tas you seemed a bit ennuye, I thought I would run over to the Mummers’ for an hour and then come back and write a little. Or would you like me to read to you the sixth chapter of the story? “I don't think the fifth chapter is very interesting.’’ Hugh looked at Lulu in bewilderment and took a long breath. «J YOU think you could be happy as the wife of a man who did not think you the most beautiful girl in the world?’” “Isn't that,’”’ she asked, looking down at her pretty foot, ‘‘rather an awkward question?” “IT don’t mean to be at all personal,’’ he explained. ‘‘It is merely an abstract MOTOR-CYCLE CLUB MATES As they were inseparable companions, Damon carried the headlight and Pythias the taillight. “Oh! Ah! my dear, what is the mat- ter with it?’” “It's like gomany stories. Too full of impossible love-making. And I think you have extravagantly idealized the hero."’ “What about the heroine?” ‘Am I supposed to be the original?”’ “*Well—ah—you know, my dear, I have had you in mind.’’ “Oh, she’s all right, I suppose. But do you know, Hugh, really I can find more pleasing things about me in my book of press notices?’’ “So?” said Hugh witha sigh. ‘‘No doubt.’’ The atmosphere became a little chilly. ‘‘You've no objection to my going to the Mummers’ for a while?’’ “‘Not the least, dear.”” Hugh went. Lulu, with a suspicious celerity, took from a drawer in a cabi- net her book of press notices. And, so, after a little, they were di- vorced. proposition, you know. Let us assume that a man who didn’t regard you as the most beautiful girl in the world asked you to marry him, Would you?” “But if he didn’t think I was the most beautiful girl in the world he wouldn't ask me, would he?’’ “He might. Men don’t always love women for their beauty alone. They sometimes love them for their good sense, their gentle dispositions and all that sort of thing.’” “Do you think so? I don’t. I think every man thinks the girl he loves is beautiful, no matter what others may think.”” “No doubt you think, then, that I'm not married merely because I have never seen any girl whom I consid- ered beautiful.”” “‘Goodness! How far you can jump to reach a conclusion! And I suppose you think I think any girl you happened to consider beautiful would be glad to accept you if you asked her." “That's some jump to come down plop on aconclusion, too. I am mere- ly speaking hypothetically. The fact is that if the most beautiful girl in the world would have me, I'd start after the engagement ring before’’— “I thought you said a moment ago that we were to consider the matter from an impersonal standpoint. As I said be- fore, I don’t believe any man would fall in love with a girl unless he thought her beautiful.’” “Don’t you think a man could love a girl because she was witty or wonder- fully clever?” AT THE CLUB DINNER—OPEN AND ABOVE BOARD comicbooks.com