The Two Strings 1854

This is 'The Two Strings', a hand-colored etching by the British artist John Leech. The scene depicts a woman in a pink dress sitting between two men in a well-to-do interior. Leech was a prominent caricaturist for the magazine Punch in mid-19th century Britain, a period marked by rigid social conventions and class consciousness. With its title, this image uses visual codes to critique the marital customs of the British middle class, satirizing the pursuit of multiple romantic interests as a sign of social and economic aspiration. Note how the artist uses the woman’s placement and expression to highlight her ambiguous role. To fully understand this artwork, we might consult Victorian periodicals and conduct archival research into the social history of courtship. The meaning of 'The Two Strings' is contingent on the cultural norms and institutional structures of its time.