Monday, January 30, 2012

"The Man Who Dared to Differ from His Mother-in-Law"


This cartoon represents a burlesque scene of a man cringing from his mother-in-law after he contradicts her.  The reason it's burlesque is because the man is shown to be very much scared of the mother-in-law for what seems to be no reason at all.  This is playing up the stereotype of the  grumpy mother-in-law who always has to be right, and who is always at war with her son-in-law. 
One can tell that the man is very frightened of her; not just by his face, but by how his body is grotesquely contorting away from her, as if to shield himself.  The mother-in-law, on the other hand is standing very straight and proud, exuding confidence and superiority.  Her daughter in the background has a similar posture, so we can assume the man has to deal with this attitude on a daily basis instead of just when the mother-in-law visits.

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