Life, 1891-10-08 · page 1 of 16
Life — October 8, 1891 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Retribution" - Life Magazine, October 8, 1891 This cartoon depicts a domestic dispute between a man and woman. The woman, standing and wearing a coat and hat, appears angry. The seated man, looking distressed, holds a drink. The dialogue reveals the cartoon's point: The woman says she doesn't care much for the uncle, and the man responds that *he* (the uncle) was responsible for keeping him in an insane asylum for the past year. Now that the uncle has left him all his money, the man claims he must "prove that he was of sound mind." The satire mocks a legal/financial situation where inheriting money paradoxically requires the beneficiary to prove his sanity—the opposite of what one might expect. It's a dark joke about Victorian inheritance law and family conflict over estates and mental competency.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
VOLUME XVIII. NEW YORK, OCTOBER 8, 1891. NUMBER 458. Entered at the New York Post Office as Second-Class Mail Matter. Copyright 1891, by Mercwect. & Minter. Ten Cents > Y “Copy © RETRIBUTION. She: YoU ARE VERY DEPRESSED, 1 DIDN*T KNOW YOU CARED SO MUCH FOR YOUR UNCLE He: Vips'l; BUT 1 WAS THE MEANS OF KEEPING HIM IN AN INSANE ASYLUM THE LAST YEAK OF 1S LIFE, AND NOW THAT HE HAS LEFT ME ALL HIS MONEY, I'VE GOT TO PROVE THAT IE WAS OF SOUND SIND, comicbooks.com