Judge — February 2, 1918 — page 4: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page from *Judge* magazine presents a satirical dialogue titled "Modern Instances" between two women, Josephine and Mildred, discussing Mildred's recent divorce from a man named Algernon. The satire mocks contemporary attitudes toward divorce and infidelity. Mildred defends her ex-husband as "handsome" and "clever," while Josephine responds with sarcasm about divorce's social consequences and makes a cutting reference to Algernon's wandering eye, joking that if Cleopatra returned to earth, he'd prefer her over Mildred—before inevitably chasing someone from the "Beauty Chorus." The cartoon targets both the casualness with which wealthy men pursue multiple women and the social awkwardness divorce creates among the upper classes. The stylized Art Nouveau illustration and sophisticated dialogue suggest this ridicules high-society hypocrisy regarding marriage and fidelity.