Life — April 6, 1922 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "To Myrtilla, on Easter Day" by Dorothy Parker This is a poem rather than a political cartoon. Parker's verses mock a frivolous young woman named Myrtilla who struts about on Easter in fancy dress, attracting male admirers. The poem's tone shifts dramatically in the second half—Parker's biting sarcasm becomes clear as she wishes Myrtilla would "break her neck," suggesting the poem is a satirical attack on superficiality and vanity. The elaborate Art Nouveau illustration shows Myrtilla in an ornate Easter bonnet surrounded by admiring gentlemen and spring flowers. Parker uses the contrast between the illustration's romanticized presentation and her caustic verses to critique both feminine vanity and male infatuation with mere appearance—characteristic of Parker's sharp social commentary on 1920s society.