Life, 1904-04-21 · page 5 of 22
Life — April 21, 1904 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a theatrical script presented as satire, subtitled "A XVIth Century Morality Play." It's a modern adaptation of medieval morality plays—allegorical works where abstract concepts (Voice, Dress Goods, Worldly Ways, Better Self, Heart) appear as characters speaking to "Everywoman." The satire targets consumer culture and feminine materialism. Characters like "Dress Goods" and "Worldly Ways" tempt Everywoman with promises of love and status through clothing and social performance, while "Better Self" and "Heart" offer moral guidance. The accompanying illustrations show well-dressed figures and dachshunds, emphasizing the fashionable world's superficiality. The piece critiques how women are swayed by commercial desires and social pressures rather than genuine virtue—a common Progressive-era complaint about modern consumer society.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LEE Everywoman. NO PROMENADE (A XXTH CENTURY MORALITY FLAY.) Dramatis Persone, =, Everywomas, Dress Goons, Wortpty Ways, BETTER ArT, EverYMas, Love. (The Morality is cast as the characters make their appearance. Veice, Yea, Everywoman, | am come To bid you look the way of Life for Love; To k him as you would, and then tor The golden harvest of your spring-time se You must not tarry, but the journey make Unto the altar for your reckoning. Lam the utterance of the soul of things, And bid you speed ! Evervwomay, Ah, me | and whither shall I turn — al A girl am I—the way of Life is long — And sore in need of guidance are my steps. Dress Goons, Everywoman, T will be your guide. See —all these trinkets, and this web of gold Shall deck you — and you let me lead the way, ‘This shimmering silk shall fall and rise and cling And flow with every quiver, every curve, Like air that whispers on the petal’s edge, And spills and whispers till the rose is dead, Ha, I will weave the mesh to capture Love Mong the road of Life ; —a suppliant, Fingering each tiny fold of lace ! WoxtoLty Ways, Nay, Everywoman, | will be your guide — Will teach you how to smile and how to speak And covering your words with velvet soun Will make your seeming real; I'll buy you Love — Deceive and lie and grovel — if needs be — If only you will let me show the way, Berrer Sete Everywoman, your Ketter Self am I — And since I know you as a part of me, I will accompany you along, Lite’s way. Above the shams, the shows, the emptiness, Tery aloud for you,—and lo! My very Life pours out — my other Self — My Heart, without which Life and Love were naught ! Heart, ywoman, into Life go 1, And where our Better Self must And in the hours when ‘tis Love you seek, I'll find him on the highway ; for tis oft That Love and I, abiding Time, are One, And soon are heralded as Love Fulfilled. comes Everyman, Everywomay, Ah, Everyman, thou comest when I had thee most in mind ; Perchance you'll tell me of this way of Love, And show me where to find it —and you will, Eviryatan, Yea, gladly ! two must find the Love you seek — And found, ‘twill last through Life and Death — always, comicbooks.com