Life, 1922-02-16 · page 15 of 34
Life — February 16, 1922 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a satirical story about marriage and infidelity. The cartoon at top shows "Primitive Woman (watching the chase)" observing what appears to be children at play, with a comment about pretending to "trip in a minute." The main text, "The Shades of Arcady," is a dialogue between Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim debating whether married couples can avoid affairs. Mrs. Pilgrim argues that "little affairs" between married people are inevitable and common. Mr. Pilgrim counters that such infidelity could be avoided through openness and honesty. The story satirizes contemporary attitudes toward marriage, fidelity, and gender relations—suggesting that early-20th-century society normalized marital infidelity as natural human behavior, while also questioning whether frank communication between spouses could prevent it.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
——— —— LIFE \. Primitive Woman (watching the chase): Humph! OBODY has given less thought to the sub- ject than I have,” said Mr. Pilgrim, shortly, returning to the peru- sal of the evening paper. “But you might give an opinion, all the same,” said Mrs. Pilgrim, without ap- parent sarcasm, “Now what do you mean by that, Letty?” inquired her husband, the paper Tust with indignation. “Am I in the habit of giving opinions on subjects of ; I know nothing?” Certainly not, dear. Quite the con- trary. You are much more likely to withhold them where you know most,” replicd his wife, artlessly. “But you might begin to think about it now, and tell me why it’s not a perfectly good working-plan as between friends.” Mr. Pilgrim at this put down the pa- ver with a sigh (almost inaudible) and wriggled—seemingly into a more com- fortable position. “I don’t quite remember your propo- sition,” to trip in a minute. The Shades of Aready “Well, I said—and I firmly believe— that half the hurt feelings between mar- ried couples could be avoided if they would only be more open about their— their little affairs, you know.” “What do you mean by little affairs?” demanded Mr. Pilgrim. “Why, the fancies they have for other people, of course.” “Oh, you take those for granted, then?” said Mr. Pilgrim. “Naturally. A man and woman don’t stay violently in love after ten years of domesticity, do they? But, if they’re the right sort, a kind of tender affection grows up between them, and I do think they owe it to that to be frank.” “About their interest in other peo- ple?” cried the gentleman, aghast. “Certainly !” “T don’t see it at all.” “Oh, yes, you must. Suppose, for in- stance, that you fell in love, temporar- ily, with a raven-haired goddess (I be- ing small and mousey), of course I'd come to know about it—” “Wait a minute,” said Mr. Pilgrim, clearing his throat. “How would you come to know about it?” —? — JS Fer [Ra at — wvS He can’t run a little bit. I bet she'll pretend “In a thousand ways: instinct, expe- rience, thought-transference; things you said a shade too naturally; times you were not where I thought you would be and were where I thought you couldn’t be. I can’t explain. But I’d know. And what would make me an- gry would be not so much the thing you were concealing, but that you thought you were concealing it from me.” “Oh!” said Mr. Pilgrim. “Yes. That’s what I’d mind,” said Mrs. Pilgrim, “and that’s what I be- lieve most women mind. If you came to me as a friend, and said, ‘Darling, you know my temperament. I’m going quite mad about that black-eyed Mrs. So and So, and I suppose you won't see a great deal of me for several months! Shall you care much?’ Then “But I never heard of anything so ridiculous,” interrupted Mr. Pilgrim, justly incensed. “As if a man could say such a thing to his wife!” “Why shouldn’t he, if it were true? Very sensible of him, I’d call it; and if you said it to me, I’d answer, ‘Go ahead, (Continued on page 31) comicbooks.com