Life — July 23, 1891 — page 5: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Very Likely" - Life Magazine Cartoon This satirical cartoon depicts a romantic garden scene with two figures in elaborate period costume. The caption presents a flirtatious exchange: a woman asks a man how he'd like being "a little bare-footed shepherdess" with a prince making love to her, and he responds he'd find that "quite as interesting at the beach." The humor relies on contrasting romantic fantasy with mundane reality—the elaborate, idealized garden setting and period costumes versus the casual, modern suggestion of the beach. The satire appears to mock sentimental romantic notions popular in literature and theater of the era, suggesting that genuine human attraction transcends such theatrical pretense. The specific figures are unclear without additional context, though they appear to represent stock romantic characters.