The Wasp — 1889 — page 150: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The top cartoon depicts a woman standing while a man sits sprawled in a chair, legs up. The caption quotes "Swelldom" complaining about falling, with a "First Charmer" correcting his language as unfit for ladies. The "Second Charmer" explains this is merely illustrating scripture—Adam before the fall. This is a joke about gender dynamics and decorum in wealthy society ("Swelldom"). The satire mocks both the man's crude behavior and the woman's affected propriety. The biblical reference to Adam's pre-fall state sarcastically compares the man's undignified posture to humanity's original innocence, suggesting that "falling" (moral decline) is inevitable—a commentary on social pretense among the wealthy classes and their hypocritical standards of respectability.