Life, 1896-01-09 · page 8 of 20
Life — January 9, 1896 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Woman in the Case" This page satirizes the common Victorian-era legal and social excuse that blamed women for men's wrongdoing. The headline "Who is the woman in the case?" references a legal cliché where scandals involving men are reflexively attributed to female influence—implying women are responsible for men's troubles. Mrs. McBride defends her sex vigorously, referencing Adam and Eve to protest this pattern. She argues men unfairly use "a woman at the bottom of it" as a shield against accountability for their own misdeeds. Mr. Darley cautions her against such forceful speech, suggesting restraint might better serve "your case"—a pointed joke about how women's advocacy for themselves was itself viewed as problematic by the male establishment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
* LIFE: seated herself, “1 heard you ask Mr. Darley who the woman was in the case. Now, I don’t know what case it is you have been discussing, nor do I wish to know. I merely wish to express my opinion on the masculine idea—for | think it is a distinctively masculine notion—that when a man disgraces himself or gets into difficulty or trouble of any sort, there must perforce be a woman at the bottom of it. Ever since Adam set the example in the Garden of Eden his imitative sons have followed his example, and with great unanimity have thrown the blame upon the woman. I protest against this custom as a flagrant injustice to my sex. It makes me angry every time I hear the insinuation, and I hear it pretty often. * The woman that thou gavest me,’ said Adam, ‘ she gave me of the fruit, and I did eat.’ Men of modern times are just like him. ‘There's a woman at the bottom of it,’ say they, and thus they attempt to shield themselves and shift the consequences of their own misdeeds. It is enough to make every woman's blood boilin her veins. Now, THE WOMAN IN THE CASE. “ HO is the woman in the cas It was Mr. McBride who asked the question, and the query was directed to McBride's friend, Mr. Darley, as the two sat and smoked in McBride’s den after dinner. Mrs. McBride was about to enter the room at the time, and she heard the inquiry, and resented it. ‘* The woman in the case,” she repeated to herself. ‘* The men always think there is a woman at the bottom of it when a man gets into trouble. It was my husband who asked the question, and I am just going to read him a lecture which I hope will also do some good to Mr. Darley.” Mrs. McBride entered the room while these thoughts were pass- ——.__ ing through her mind, and her presence prevented a prompt answer, for the gentlemen rose as she came in. “Mr. Mc- Bride,” she said to her hus- band, as she The Professor (awakening): 1S THERE ANYBODY IN THIS ROOM? “No, sir.” “On, I THOUGHT THERE was.” Falls asleep again. 64 . ‘ { don’t know what case that was you two men were discussing when [ came in, about which | heard my husband ‘Who is the wo- man in the case?’ but I'll venture to say that there is no woman con- nected with the matter at all.” She looked from her hus- band to Mr, Darley,and that individual said : “You would better be careful, Mrs. McBride. You have made a very vigorous and a very praiseworthy defense of your sex. Don’t you think it would be better to let the matter rest there, and not run the possible risk of destroying the effect of your very forcible speech by citing an illustration which possibly might not help your case?” “No, I don't think so, Mr. Darley. I'm so convinced of the general truth of what I have been saying, and of the fact that in ninety cases out of a hundred no woman is any way to blame for a man’s trouble, that I am willing to rest the matter on this case you comicbooks.com