Life — October 20, 1927 — page 14: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes King Arthur and the legend of the Round Table. The dialogue shows King Arthur expressing fear that "the round table is doomed," while Lancelot responds that he thinks "an oblong table would go better with the best of the palace furniture." The joke is a play on the famous Arthurian legend: the Round Table symbolizes equality among knights (no head position), but here it's being dismissed as impractical furniture. Lancelot's suggestion to replace it with an "oblong table" for aesthetic reasons mocks modern interior design priorities over legendary tradition. The illustration depicts a medieval hall with period furnishings, where the characters discuss this absurdly practical solution to what should be a sacred, symbolic object—poking fun at how contemporary concerns trivialize historical significance.