The Wasp — 1896 — page 179: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical comic strip follows a widow through her first year of mourning. The narrative arc shows her progression from genuine grief (she's "dead, mamma and my heart is broken") to gradually moving on. The satire appears to mock the conventions of Victorian-era widow mourning—the strict social expectations for how long and how visibly a woman should grieve. The final panels suggest she's abandoned her mourning clothes and is flirting with a young man, implying her grief wasn't as deep as initially performed. The strip critiques both the artificial social rituals surrounding mourning and the hypocrisy of women who quickly move past their supposed devotion to deceased husbands once the obligatory mourning period ends. It's a commentary on performative Victorian respectability.