Puck — August 13, 1879 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Puck Magazine, August 13, 1879 This issue's main cartoon satirizes the "Opening of the Butler Campaign in Massachusetts." The image depicts a grotesque, demonic figure emerging from water, holding a tattered flag—appearing to represent Butler's political campaign as something monstrous or destructive. The header quote "What fools these Mortals be!" (from *A Midsummer Night's Dream*) signals mockery of those supporting Butler's political efforts. General Benjamin Butler was a controversial Union general and Radical Republican politician; this cartoon likely criticizes his Massachusetts campaign as dangerous or ridiculous. The demonic imagery suggests Puck's editors viewed Butler negatively and his campaign as something to be feared or ridiculed rather than taken seriously.