Abstract
In his nearly 4,000 caricatures published between 1830 and 1870, appearing in the first illustrated satirical journals, Honoré Daumier provides a critical lens for viewing this chaotic time in French society. Most Daumier scholars concentrate on his overtly political attacks during the July Monarchy and the Second Republic or on his misogynistic lampooning of the growing women’s suffrage movement. In this article, we focus on a frequent (and overlooked) theme that runs through his oeuvre, the act of play, to discover new facets of those explorations. In our close readings of caricatures featuring popular games like billiards and dominoes, and sports like swimming, we find a consistent socio-political critique of bourgeois attitudes and practices coupled with a disdain for female participation as citizens. Moreover, we show how Daumier exploits the perceived playfulness of the medium in his multi-layered depictions of play, a self-reflexive gesture that illustrates the rich paradoxes of caricature.