Life — September 30, 1897 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Life Magazine, September 30, 1897 This page features a satirical cartoon about marriage and alimony. The central image shows an elaborately dressed woman under a parasol, with a small figure of a man in a top hat sitting on the parasol's curve—a visual metaphor suggesting he's being weighed down or controlled by her. The caption reads: "Poor thing! Your marriage is not a success, is it?" with a response about receiving "all the alimony I claimed." The satire targets the financial burden of divorce settlements on men, particularly wealthy ones. This reflects late-19th-century anxieties about women's legal rights to spousal support. The woman's elaborate, expensive dress emphasizes the joke—that alimony allows ex-wives to maintain lavish lifestyles at their former husbands' expense. The cartoon mocks both the legal system and women's "gold-digging" motivations.