Life — December 25, 1902 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Life Magazine, December 25, 1902 This satirical cartoon titled "A State of Things" depicts a domestic dining scene with social commentary. The caption states: "The Man in Background: 'Oh, yes! They hate each other. You see, when they married, each thought the other had money. The Woman in Background: 'And neither of them had!' 'So I they can't even afford to get a divorce.'" The joke satirizes upper-class marriage expectations and marital discord among the wealthy. It mocks couples who marry assuming their spouse possesses wealth, only to discover mutual financial disappointment. The punchline—that the couple cannot even afford divorce—was a sharp contemporary jab at how legal separation was an expensive luxury available only to the truly wealthy, trapping the poor and middle-class in unhappy marriages.