The Wasp — 1888 — page 97: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon depicts a scene of social ruin or downfall. A woman in revealing attire stands center-stage, apparently performing or seducing, while a well-dressed man seated at right laughs heartily—appearing delighted despite his evident intoxication. A second figure in the foreground (lower left, partially visible) lies prone on the floor, seemingly unconscious or passed out. The title "His Destruction" suggests the cartoon critiques how a man's moral and financial ruin can result from encounters with seductive women and excessive drinking. This reflects late 19th/early 20th-century moralistic satire warning against vice, temptation, and loose women as threats to respectable gentlemen. The scene mocks both the man's weakness and depicts the social consequences of such indulgence.