The Wasp — 1894 — page 170: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This illustration depicts a social satire about marital suspicion and women's gossip. A well-dressed woman reclines in an ornate chair while a caricatured older woman (drawn with exaggerated features suggesting she's meant to be mocking or villainous) sits across from her. The dialogue reveals the joke's target: wives discussing their husbands' nighttime absences, with speculation about poker playing. The final line—"Lor' bless you no, mum; it's a game as you ain't got no chance in all"—suggests male infidelity or deception, implying husbands use poker as a pretext to escape domestic life. The satire mocks both marital distrust and women's tendency toward gossiping confidences about their husbands' suspected misconduct.