The Wasp — 1880 — page 161: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily text—the opening of a serialized story titled "Bringing Home the May" from *The Illustrated Wasp*. The illustration at the top shows a Victorian-era scene of people at a well, establishing the story's setting. The narrative concerns middle-class characters including Grace Moyne, Paul Astley, Mark Astley, and others navigating social relationships and romantic entanglements. The story appears to satirize Victorian propriety and class consciousness—characters discuss marriage prospects, family reputation, and romantic scandal with concern for social standing. While *The Wasp* was known for political satire, this particular page contains literary fiction rather than political commentary or caricature. The satire, if present, targets social conventions and romantic pretense typical of Victorian periodical literature.