The Wasp, 1918 · page 293 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 293: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This appears to be a dramatic scene from a serialized story or melodrama rather than a political cartoon. The page shows a confrontation between a man and woman, likely from a narrative work published in *The Wasp*, a 19th-century American satirical magazine. The unnamed male character, now wealthy, confronts the woman about her changed feelings toward him. He references three other men: Stanton (whom she allegedly hates), Willis (whom she loves and wishes to protect), and implicitly himself. The woman's desperate plea—begging him to spare Willis despite her willingness to accept her own death—suggests a love-triangle melodrama exploring themes of wealth, social status, and romantic loyalty. Without identifying the specific characters or story, the passage appears to satirize or comment on conventional Victorian romance tropes: sudden fortune changing relationships, female devotion, and moral tests of character.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
284 THE WASP ms She gazed at him, with terror-stricken eyes. She shivered. ; oe “Very well, my dear,” he continued. “You have told me, plainer than words, that I’m no- longer to your liking. Strange, too, for now 1 am rich—and in the old days you did not act | as if I were entirely repulsive to you. And you hate Stanton. What about-Willis?” = = _ She fell to her knees with a cry piteons beyond description. She crawled to him on her knees. “ Kill me, an you will,” she cried, “but do not harm him. He is good and kind and brave. I would kill myself, but for him. He cares— and I love him, love him! Spare him, for Heaven’s sake!” INS Hicomicbooks:com| |