Life — March 24, 1921 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of "The Thoughts of Hermione" This is a satirical column by Don Marquis featuring a character named Hermione, described as "The Modern Young Woman." The piece mocks intellectually pretentious young women of the 1920s era who adopt trendy philosophical ideas. The cartoon illustration shows a stylized female figure with an elongated neck in an Art Deco style, characteristic of Life magazine's aesthetic. The satire targets Hermione's name-dropping of Einstein, Nietzsche, Freud (Psychoanalysis), and communist ideology (Bolshevism) while contradicting herself and revealing shallow understanding. She discusses "Growth" and "Cosmic consciousness" while planning frivolous activities like costume plays and dinner parties. Marquis ridicules how educated young women of this period adopted avant-garde intellectual fashions without genuine comprehension, using sophisticated concepts as social posturing.