Life, 1898-04-21 · page 8 of 20
Life — April 21, 1898 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page from *Life* magazine presents a dialogue about intellectual marriage and gender relations. The conversation—visible in the left column text—debates whether men and women should meet on a "wholly metaphysical plane" and whether marriages based on intellectual compatibility rather than physical attraction represent an ideal future society. The accompanying illustration shows a couple in what appears to be a domestic interior. The caption reads "Aren't you going to kiss me goodbye?"—which sarcastically undercuts the lofty intellectual discussion occurring in the adjacent text. The satire targets progressive ideas about purely intellectual marriage by juxtaposing them against the apparently unchanged human desire for physical affection. The cartoon suggests that despite philosophical arguments for elevating relationships above "the natural," actual couples still want conventional romantic gestures.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
340 chatelain tablets, ‘to create an atmosphere of the purely intellectual, the metaphy cal; to subdue the natural, and relegate it to the lower planes of existence.” “Would you relegate us men to those same lower plane he asked, dubi ously, Certainly not!” she re- plied, emphatically, A man’s mind, with its force “and creative power, is a nec essary adjunct to the com- pleteness of the whole. Men and women should meet ou a wholly metaphysical plane, and should admire each other for qualities of mind, and that subtle something yet unde termined which we call spher “Would you believe in marriage?” meekly. brightly . of course, when this order of things has be- come established there will be fewer marriages, for what we now call love can so sel- dom bear the clear inspection of our higher culture that the custom may gradually die away. Yet those marr that will then be made will be ideal, the union of mind and mind, a union that makes completeness, and leaves no void.” A suppressed exclamation on his part, dignified silence on hers, ‘If I conclude rightly,” he said, with utmost gravit ‘we are to live simply in the intellectual, That being the case, I'm not to kiss you, or”—a warning glance from her—*‘or tell you that you're or anything of the ¢ that would drag you back to the natural. Is that correct?” a searchin glance. “Yes — only, of course, you're to be nice to me.” “AN right,” cheerfully “It’s an excellent plan, no doubt, when you're used to * Aren't you going to kiss me xoud-byt™ comicbooks.com