Life, 1892-12-08 · page 5 of 16
Life — December 8, 1892 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 329 This page contains two theatrical sketches. "A Chivalric Foreigner" depicts a French officer at a crowded reception attempting to seduce an English woman by flattering her with romantic French manners—a satirical jab at French courtship customs and their perceived incompatibility with English propriety. "The Only Inducement" shows a romantic scene between two characters, Ned and Maud, discussing marriage. The satire centers on Maud's mercenary motivation: she agrees to marry only after learning Ned can offer "the inducement in the world"—implying financial security rather than romantic love drives her acceptance. Both sketches mock relationship dynamics: foreign affectation in one, financial pragmatism in the other.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A CHIVALRIC MU. le Baron (tho, on the previous evening, failed in his endeavors to reach the refreshment tables at a crowded reception) : ZAT 18 MOOCH BETTER ZAN IN ZE CROWDED ROOM, ZE REFRESHMENTS ARE SERVE’ IN ZE FIELD, FOREIGNER. Aun, I see! If MADAME WILL HOLD MY Har, I NCE MORE PLUNGE INTO ZE CONFLICT, AND VIZ ZE HELP OF HEAVEN, PERHAPS ACHIEVE FOR MADAME ZE CROQUETTE. THE ONLY INDUCEMENT. A cosy parlor. Lights not too glaring and not too dim. A piano, open, with two or three romantic CENE I. songs on the rack, An odor of sentiment pervades the whole atmosphere of the room. Discovered, not too close to and not too far from cach other, Ned and Maud. Maup: There is only one inducement in the world you could offer me, Ned, to make me become your wife. Nep: Well, I haven't asked you yet, have 1? Maup: I did not say you had, but I was just warning you. (A protracted conversation ensues, ranging from a mutual liking for the same edibles to the spontaneous, sympathetic union of two twin souls.) SCENE II, The same, three hours later, The sentiment in the atmosphere has become so oppressive as to cause the lights to burn witha flickering dimness. Maup: And you loved me the first time you saw me ? NEE Long before I ever met you, darling. You were the ideal of my dreams. I lived but in the hope of one day meeting you. Maup: And I you, dearest. (Auss.) NED: But tell me, my own; what did you mean by saying, before I asked you to marry me, that there was only one in- ducement in the world I could offer you to make you become my wife. MAUD (shyly): Nep: What? MAUD (burying her face tn his chrysanthemum): Asking me to marry you. That was the inducement. comicbooks.com