Life — September 20, 1888 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Powers That Be" (Life, September 20, 1888) This cartoon satirizes the dynamics of upper-class marriage through a domestic scene. A woman (the "mistress") reclines on a bed, claiming illness to avoid going out. Her husband responds with skepticism, suggesting she's well enough and merely making excuses. The title "The Powers That Be" ironically refers to who truly holds authority in the marriage—implying the wife controls the household through manipulation of her health or mood, a common Victorian satirical trope. The cartoon mocks both the wife's feigned ailments and the husband's resigned acceptance of her authority despite his apparent masculine status. This reflects 1880s anxieties about gender roles and domestic power dynamics in middle- to upper-class households.