Life — November 5, 1885 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Life Magazine Page, November 5, 1885 The page features a cartoon titled "Consolation" by Albert Sterner depicting a social scene. A sympathetic friend consoles a recently bereaved widow named Elsie about her loneliness following her husband's death. The mourning woman responds that she knows "where he is nights"—a dark joke implying her husband visits her at night, likely suggesting either ghostly visits or, more probably, that he's unfaithful and conducting an affair. The satire targets Victorian attitudes toward widowhood and marital fidelity, suggesting that even deceased husbands' infidelities persist as sources of female suffering. The elaborate decorative border on the left contains various Life magazine section headers and emblems typical of the publication's design.