Life, 1884-06-19 · page 3 of 16
Life — June 19, 1884 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis The main illustration depicts a doctor's visit, showing a common medical interaction of the era. The dialogue satirizes the disconnect between patient expectations and medical practice: the patient requests a prescription, the doctor (after examining her pulse) dismisses her concerns, claiming she merely needs rest—while ironically, the doctor himself appears to need rest too. The satire targets the era's casual medical diagnosis, where doctors often attributed women's ailments to vague causes requiring passive "rest" rather than serious treatment. This was a recognized criticism of period medicine. The poem below, "A Songe of Mistresse Peg," appears unrelated—a period verse about a woman named Peg, likely humorous or satirical in nature, though its specific target remains unclear without additional context.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Patient : Doctor (after feeling of her pulse): Patient: Now, AREN'T YOU MISTAKEN, DocToR? AT MY TONGUE. Doctor: THAT NEEDS REST, TOO. Docror, I WANT YOU TO PRESCRIBE FOR ME. THERE IS NOTHING THE MATTER, MADAME. ALL YOU NEED Is REST. PLEASE STUDY MY CASE CAREFULLY. JusT LOOK A SONGE OF MISTRESSE PEG. HER CRUELTIE. HENnE Mistress Peggy Walkes Abroade Toe Shew her Brave Attyre, She Setts her Image inne ye Hearte Of Any yt maie Spye Her, & Hastening Gallants Bow & Begge Yt She will Chuse A Squire, Till Envious Maides Putt onne Disdayne & Push a-Poutinge by Her. Butt Mistresse Peg Trippes one Her Waie Woh everie Ribbon Flyinge, & will have None of Fop or Beau For alle Theyre Prayers & Sighinge. Alack, yt She Sholde Be Soe Bolde (Ye Gallants Joyne inne Cryinge), Toe Toss Her Head atte everie Swaine & Give Him harsh Denyinge ! O TEMPORA, ETC. T was a beautiful Sunday morning in the month of June ; the birds sang and the flowers lifted up their heads in the soft sunlight, and poor tired humanity was very grateful for a day of rest, and wended its way through the soft air to church, there to be comforted and have its sins forgiven. And Mrs. Van Dyke-Robertson’s heart was full of gladness as she put on her new bonnet and suit and sailed down the Avenue to church, knowing full well that every women she met would turn round the moment they had passed her and examine carefully her costume, and in consequence their souls would be filled with bitterness and envy. Therefore, Mrs. Van Dyke-Robertson went joyously on her way, and when she had reached the church comicbooks.com