The Wasp — 1894 — page 369: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The main cartoon satirizes a young woman named Clara Street (identified as "of the Four Hundred"—San Francisco's social elite) and her negotiating tactics regarding marriage. Mrs. Russian Hill asks if Clara will consent to marry George; Clara responds she'll only agree if she can control the wedding invitations, threatening to use this power to exclude his current fiancée before announcing their engagement. The satire mocks Clara's manipulative, calculating approach to matrimony and her casual disregard for existing commitments—presenting her as treating marriage negotiations like diplomatic maneuvering rather than a romantic union. Her membership in the "Four Hundred" suggests the cartoon critiques wealthy society women's mercenary attitudes toward marriage.