The truckle bed, the broken chair, the hat boxes, and the footstool are the only furnishings in this otherwise barren hovel. The expensive and fashionable bonnet, costume and shawl contrast noticeably with the desperate surroundings and suggest that the woman has sacrificed everything to outward show in the hopes of catching a rich husband as indicated by the ball ticket stuck in the mirror. Alternatively, the artist could have intended to suggest that she has been abandoned by her lover.