Life, 1885-01-22 · page 3 of 16
Life — January 22, 1885 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "After the Ball" - Life Magazine Cartoon This cartoon depicts an upper-class couple after attending a formal ball. The woman wears an elaborate gown with a train; the man stands nearby in evening dress. The dialogue reveals their marital discord: he expresses regret about their deceased son "Charlie," saying they wouldn't need to attend social events nightly if he had lived. She responds bitterly, noting she "decidedly" regrets his death, and adds a cutting remark that a widow with children has little chance of remarriage—implying her husband's inattentiveness makes her feel trapped in the marriage. The satire targets the superficiality of high society life and unhappy marriages among the wealthy, where couples endure endless social obligations despite emotional distance. The cartoon critiques both marital discontent and the hollow nature of upper-class social ritual.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AFTER THE BALL. AH! MY DEAR, IF OUR LITTLE CHARLIE HAD LIVED WE WOULD NOT BE GOING OUT THIS WAY EVERY EVENING, IS THERE EVER A MOMENT THAT YOU DO NOT REGRET HIS DEATH ? She: MOST DECIDEDLY THERE IS. SUPPOSE YOU YOURSELF WERE TO DIF AND CHARLIE WERE STILL ALIVE, WHAT A POSITION I SHOULD BE IN! A WIDOW WITH CHILDREN HASN'T HALF A CHANCE, IN VENICE, (From a Street Song.) HILE thou art sleeping, The moon and her wake Are paving with silver Our path o'er the lake ; The clouds and their shadows Have fled from the sea, And the waves, love, are leaping, With longing for thee. I wait with the stars, Set deep in yon skies,— Still stars that are sparkling, But not as thine eyes; And I long with a love for thee, Tender, div Ah! Come to my gondola,— Mine, love—and thine. The breezes that whisper The voice of the main, Sigh back to the casement Again and again ; They are longing, as I am. Thy face, love, to kiss ; Ah! wake from thy dreaming, — What dreaming like this ? Come, float we together, None other beside, But we and our love, On the glistening tide; Ah! float we forever, Between sky and sky,— Thou only, my darling, Thou only—and I.