Life — December 4, 1913 — page 45: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page from *Life* magazine presents a darkly humorous illustration accompanying the caption "And when she was good / She was horrid." The image depicts what appears to be a woman in period dress (late 19th or early 20th century based on clothing and styling) surrounded by several figures in an interior setting. The severe contrast and shadowy quality suggests moral or social commentary. The caption references the nursery rhyme "There once was a girl who had a little curl," which concludes: "when she was good she was very, very good, / when she was bad she was horrid." The satire inverts this—suggesting that even her goodness was terrible or objectionable. Without additional context identifying the specific woman caricatured, the exact target remains unclear, though the piece critiques some contemporary female figure through this inversion of feminine virtue.