“- Oysters at 25 sous a dozen, horrible!... Even if you gave me 100 sous to eat half a dozen, I would not allow myself such an expense,” plate 18 from Actualités 1866

This lithograph by Honoré Daumier captures a moment of bourgeois life with biting satire. Note the central figure, a man in a top hat, recoiling with theatrical disgust. His exaggerated gesture—hands raised, mouth agape—speaks volumes. The oysters, symbols of luxury, here become emblems of societal absurdity. Consider how this gesture echoes across time. We see similar expressions of horror and aversion in religious art, where figures recoil from temptation or sin. This exaggerated performance is not merely individual; it taps into a collective memory of moral judgment and social critique. The psychological weight of this image lies in its ability to evoke feelings of social anxiety and the fear of extravagance. Daumier masterfully uses the symbol of the oyster to expose the contradictions and neuroses of his society, creating a visual language that resonates with the anxieties of conspicuous consumption across the ages.