The Wasp, 1918 · page 100 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 100: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from the satirical magazine *The Wasp* contains dialogue—no visible cartoon—depicting social gossip about a romantic entanglement. A character named Burnham overhears two young men discussing Percy Stanton's infatuation with a penniless woman of unknown identity. The satire targets class pretension: Stanton comes from new money (his grandfather was a corset-maker), yet his family opposes his romantic interest because she lacks nobility. The irony cuts both ways—the speakers mock inherited aristocracy while revealing their own snobbery about commerce-derived wealth. The woman is described as a parson's daughter, attractive enough to captivate a wealthy man despite her poverty. The satire suggests that both romantic foolishness and rigid class hierarchies deserve ridicule. Burnham's judgment of her as "a fool" hints at further complications to come in the narrative.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WASP : QI He turned the matter over and over in his tortured mind and found it a grim riddle. At last he gave it up as hopeless and turned his attention to the conversation of two young men on his left. ‘“‘ Percy means it,” said one. ‘‘ He is a fool about her. He fairly forced Mrs. Black to bring her along as a companion—so the major says.” *“Who wouldn’t be?” replied the other. ** A nymph, by the Lord Harry! [Td try my own luck there but for the fact that I’m too poor to support a penniless wife. But Stanton has plenty of money and more coming to him. _ Daughter of a parson, isn’t she ? ” ‘““That’s ‘what she says,” replied the first speaker, ‘“‘ and Mrs. Black vouchesforit. Percy’s family won’t like it, I’ll swear, for they want him to marry intothe nobility. You know, I suppose, that the founder of the Stanton fortune was a corset-maker. That was Percy’s grandfather. Wish my worthy grandsire had tried something of the kind ! ”’ Burnham listened to all this with interest, wondering who the penniless charmer could ‘be who had won such a hold upon Stanton’s affections. He thought her a fool, whoever she might be. And then his mind went in bP) comichooks.com