The Wasp — 1891 — page 241: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes marriage through a dialogue between a couple. The husband (Ellet) intends to have "everything his own way" after marriage, while his fiancée (May) explains she'll marry him to "relieve his mind of a false impression"—implying she'll disabuse him of his misconceptions about marital control. The joke targets male assumptions about spousal authority. The woman's cutting response suggests that wives, not husbands, actually control domestic affairs, a common satirical theme in late 19th-century publications. The cartoon mocks men's naive belief they can dictate terms in marriage, presenting female agency as inevitable and humorous. The surrounding text advertises hotels and patent medicines, typical of *The Wasp*'s format mixing editorial content with commercial notices.