Life — February 16, 1922 — page 5: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page features a portrait of **Clare Eames**, labeled "La Vielle Noblesse" (The Old Nobility). Below is a poem by George S. Chappell critiquing the concept of royalty as "obsolete." The satire contrasts the elegant, classical profile drawing with a poem dismissing kings and queens as "foolish and effete," arguing their "glory die[s]" while they're reincarnated. The closing question—"The Princess proud?"—appears skeptical of aristocratic pretension. This likely reflects 1920s-era anti-monarchist sentiment following World War I and various European revolutions. The pairing of Eames's refined portrait with anti-royalty verse creates ironic tension, perhaps suggesting that even refined individuals cannot escape criticism of the outdated nobility system itself.