Life — November 17, 1892 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Above Board" - Life Magazine, November 17, 1892 This cartoon satirizes courtship and marriage proposals among the wealthy. Two well-dressed men in a boat encounter a woman, and the dialogue reveals the hypocrisy of "respectable" society. The **Visiting Englishman** demands exclusivity in romance, claiming he cannot be happy unless the woman promises to be his alone. The **Native American** (likely representing an American suitor) responds bluntly: he's already engaged to three other men he likes better, but doesn't mind being engaged to a fourth. The satire mocks the pretense of Victorian courtship—the expectation of feminine virtue and exclusive devotion—while exposing the reality that wealthy women might juggle multiple suitors simultaneously. The title "Above Board" ironically emphasizes the public, seemingly respectable nature of these arrangements.