“Visual Culture and the ‘Alice’ Books”

by Erin Clark Frost | Xchanges 6.2

Political Cartoons

However, the context Tenniel was most known for was his work as a political cartoonist. The first cartoon on this page, which was published in Punch, is known as the “Nemesis of Neglect.” It’s a commentary on the Jack the Ripper murders, putting forth an argument that parallels the modern argument that poverty breeds crime. Tenniel was not afraid to tackle tough subjects like war, as shown in the image below, “The Catch- Penny,” and he dove into issues that were very political, such as unionization, shown in the third image, as well. Tenniel was unafraid to talk about nationality and ethnicity, as shown by his cartoon depicting the Irish land question being taken by the horns.