Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901. This was a time of tremendous social change in England. Technology, economics, and culture were all in a state of upheaval. You might expect that, at the very least, some simple things remained the same during that period. For instance, people have always enjoyed having animal companions. Dogs were first domesticated when humans lived in caves, and humans kept cats as far back as Ancient Egypt. However, a close examination of historical and literary texts shows that even humans’ relationship with pets looked different in Victorian times. This is significant, because it illustrates that culture is always in flux, even when it comes to something as simple and intimate as “man’s best friend”.
In 1874, Grace Greenwood wrote Heads and Tales: Studies and Stories of Pets. This collection of children’s stories demonstrates that (insert analysis of this book)….
Greenwood’s stories suggest that people in the 19th century thought of domesticated animals somewhat differently from how we think about them today, and that different animals may have been the focus of humans’ interest and affections. We can confirm this impression by looking at the poems about animals that can be found in Project Gutenberg. This word cloud represents the most common animals present in 74 poems pulled from Project Gutenberg. This shows (insert analysis of this data visualization)….
As Ivan Kreilkamp says, “Not any animal can become a sanctified pet” (32). This means…
Works Cited
Chubachus. (2017, April 21). 3d stereoscopic photographs of dogs and cats in the victorian era(1800’s). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3luKEn_cBdE
Feuerstein, A. (2016). Review of pets and domesticity in victorian literature and culture: Animality, queer relations, and the victorian family; at home and astray: the domestic dog in victorian britain, howellphilip [Review of Review of pets and domesticity in victorian literature and culture: Animality, queer relations, and the victorian family; at home and astray: the domestic dog in victorian britain, howellphilip, by M. Flegel & P. Howell]. Victorian Review, 42(1), 185–188. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26809563
Gotlieb, R. (2019). “Minster” jug as a “pet” agent of victorian design reform: Journal of design history. Journal of Design History, 32(2), 123–145. https://doi.org/10.1093/jdh/epy041
Greenwood, G. (1874). Heads and tails: Studies and stories of pets. The American News Company. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100536262
Kreilkamp, I. (2018). Minor creatures: Persons, animals, and the victorian novel. In Minor Creatures. University of Chicago Press. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7208/9780226576404/html
Lydon, A. F. (1845). Our pets: Sketches of the furred and feathered favourites of the young: with numerous anecdotes illustrating their sagacity and affection. Groombridge and Sons. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100592664