Life, 1910-12-01 · page 56 of 108
Life — December 1, 1910 — page 56: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the tedious, self-absorbed conversation at a high-society drawing room gathering ("Lester Lorimer's" Sunday salon). A Man and Woman sit in a corner, exchanging remarks that mock both the pretentious guests and their own boredom. The humor lies in their perfectly synchronized complaints: they echo each other's disgust ("Good Lord!"/"Me too!") while sarcastically invoking intellectual frameworks—Darwinian Theory, Artistic Temperament, Prenatal Influence—to explain why these people are insufferable. Their escalating nightmare scenarios (the Singer might sing! The Elocutionist might elocute!) build absurdist dread. The twist: they're the **host and hostess**, stuck enduring their own party. The satire targets Edwardian social pretension, intellectual posturing, and the exhausting performance of polite society gatherings where conversation is performative egotism rather than genuine connection.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
356606 O6LIFE S 6 5555 weer gre ll ont The Tramp: see were! AIN’T YE GOT NO BETTER MA‘ GEN'L'22AN'S SLEEPIN’ APARTMENT WITHOUT KNOCKIN The Sunday Symposium A Move HE time w: N INSTANCE 12 p.m. The Place was the Lester rimers’. And the Occasion was a Sunday Sym- posium. ‘The drawing-rooms were full of men and women. The men and women were full of con- versation. And the conversation was full of egotism. A Man and a Woman sat in the corner. First they looked at the people. Then they looked at cach other. And finally they spoke. “Good Lord!’’ said the Man. “Me too!’’ said the Woman. “T never!’’ said the Man. “Neither did I!’’ said the Woman. “It is the limit! ’’ said the Man. “T hope sol’’ said the Woman. “Never saw such people!’’ said the Man, “Never heard such people!'’ said the Woman. “Didn't know they existed!’ said the Man. “Didn't know it themselves! '’ said the Woman. Lor- “Can't imagine where they from!"’ said the Man. “Can't imagine where they'll to!’’ said the Woman. “They look like monkeys!" Man. talk like Woman. “Is it the Darwinian Theory?’’ said the Man. Prenatal Woman, “It must be the Artistic Temperament!” said the Man. “Well, let it go at Woman. “Wish that they would go at that!’? said the Man. “They will—by and came all go said the “ They parrots!"" said the “Oe Influence? ’’ said the that!'’ said the by!"’ said. the is a Sunday Symposium! *? said the Man, “Tt is almost a Monday Symposium! '* said the Woman. “T can hardly stay awake!" said the Man, “I can hardly go to sleep!”” said the Woman. “The whole thing seems to me like a dream!" said the Man. “The whole thing seems to me like a nightmare! '' said the Woman. “Will it be over soon?"’ said the Man. “One can never tell said the Woman. “What more could happen? "’ said the Man. “The unexpected! '’ said the Woman. “For instance? '’ said the Man. “The Singer might sing!" said the Woman. “Ye gods!"’ said the Man, “And the Dancer might dance!" said the Woman. “Ye goddesses! "’ s: the Man. “The Elocutionist might elocute!'’ said the Woman. ay not so!"’ said the Man. “And the Suffragette might said the Woman. “ Perish the thought! '’ said the Man. “That would really be more than I could stand for!’ said the Woman. “And it would be more than I could sit through! "' said the Man. “Even a worm will turn!’’ said the Woman. “And even people in glass houses will throw stones! ’’ said. the Man “Oh, joy!’’ said the Woman. “Oh, hope!’ said the Man. “ Someone is getting up to go!" said the Woman. “Everyone is getting up to go!" said the Man, “Hip, hip——"’ said the Woman. “Hooray! ’’ said the Man. The Man was the Host. The Woman was the Hostess. suffer!"" “WEATRER MAP OF BILLY’S BED.’” comicbooks.com