The Wasp — 1894 — page 430: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon from *The Wasp* (December 1, 1894) depicts a domestic scene satirizing infidelity and abandonment. A well-dressed man stands between two women in an ornate interior. The dialogue reveals the joke: "Insurance Willie" asks "During will you love me when I'm gone?" and "Miss Westerne Addytion" responds, "Yes, if you are not too far gone." The satire plays on the double meaning of "gone"—both death (relevant to insurance) and being unfaithful or dissolute. The cartoon mocks a man apparently seeking reassurance while already compromised morally, and the woman's conditional affection based on his state of dissolution. The wealthy setting and fashionable dress suggest this targets upper-class social hypocrisy regarding marriage vows and fidelity.