The Wasp — 1896 — page 1055: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The cartoon shows a conversation between a husband and wife. The husband has apparently been caught in an infidelity or indiscretion, and his wife is confronting him about it. She references the old nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb," sarcastically noting that while the rhyme says the lamb "could not go," her husband's behavior suggests he definitely *can* go—implying his waywardness or wandering nature. This is a genteel Victorian-era marital humor piece, playing on double meanings and suggesting domestic discord caused by the husband's roving attention. The satire targets masculine infidelity rather than making a broader political point. It's gentle by modern standards, relying on literary allusion and innuendo rather than explicit accusation.