The Wasp — 1893 — page 222: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The cartoon depicts a woman in Victorian dress sitting by the seaside, gazing at her reflection in water. The accompanying text presents a satirical dialogue mocking stereotypical character types through exaggerated names: - **George** ("How shemy the sea looks!") - **Marie** ("Ooh—is that word sherry, George?") The satire targets affected, pretentious speech patterns among certain social classes—likely immigrants or those aspiring to upper-class status who mangle English pronunciation and usage. The joke hinges on the women's inability to correctly pronounce or understand simple words, suggesting intellectual inadequacy masked by performative gentility. This reflects period anxieties about immigration and "proper" American society.