Life — December 1, 1898 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "No Fault of His" - Life Magazine, December 1, 1898 This satirical cartoon depicts a social scene with a well-dressed man entering a room where three elegantly-dressed women are gathered. The caption reads: "He must have had a great deal of assurance to kiss you." / "No, not a great deal. I only assured him once." The joke appears to be social satire about courtship and propriety in the 1890s. The woman's response suggests she gave a man permission ("assured him") to kiss her, implying a degree of romantic agency or flirtatiousness on her part—contradicting the man's apparent assumption that such boldness was the gentleman's fault alone. The cartoon satirizes the era's social conventions around gender, romance, and who bears responsibility in romantic encounters.