The Wasp — 1880 — page 219: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains a complete theatrical script rather than a political cartoon. It depicts a comedic play set in Nice and a hotel parlor, involving aristocratic characters including Miss Plummer, Clara Strauss, a Baron, and various other social climbers. The satire targets wealth-obsessed social ambition: characters scheme over marriages to wealthy suitors, debate the authenticity of nobility, and expose pretense among the elite. A "German" character arrives claiming aristocratic credentials, while others question whether he's a genuine "Chevalier" or merely a grocer's clerk. The humor mocks Victorian-era social climbing, the obsession with titles and fortunes, and the gap between claimed and actual social status—typical Gilded Age satire about American and European pretension.