Judge — June 30, 1928 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page satirizes changing attitudes toward romance and marriage between 1898 and 1928. The **top panel (1898)** depicts a domestic scene where a woman appears distressed while a man and another figure observe—suggesting traditional melodrama around infidelity or abandonment. The **bottom panel (1928)** shows a dramatically different scenario: a woman casually announces she's "just bumped off" her husband, with bodies scattered about. A small cherub/cupid figure sits amid the chaos. The satire contrasts Victorian-era romantic tragedy with 1920s cynicism. Where 1898 society treated lost love as tragic and scandalous, the 1928 version suggests modern women respond with violent indifference—a dark joke about changing gender dynamics and the "flapper" era's rejection of sentimentality. The cherub's presence mocks the contrast between traditional romantic ideals and contemporary attitudes.