Grieving Dog or Harrowed Man
The relationship between humanity and animals is complex and has multiple components. I have focused on symbolism, theories, and historical aspects thus far. However, I am missing a key aspect: the emotional connection. Humans form irreplaceable emotional connections with pets and animals. More specifically, the emotional aspect of grieving and attempting to cope with loss is difficult when animals die, just like humans.
We open with an epitaph from Lord Byron for his dead Newfoundland dog Boatswain. In his heartful feat of emotion, he writes, "To mark a friend's remains these stones arise, I never knew but one -and here he lies" (Byron). He refers to his dog as a friend. Byron even mentions the stones that will coat Boatswain's grave, indicating his intention for the epitaph to hold an eternal impact. He also doesn't want a ceremony for himself, only for the dog. His intentions for self-reflection of his regard for the dog, and how much he cares for it, showcases an intense emotional connection between man and animals- even occurring in the early 1800s.
We then turn to epitaphs, or eulogies, for dead animals and their grieving owners. Multiple aspects of society influence the process of what's written and how we cope. Ingrid Tague writes about, "... the violation of the emotional bond formed between man and beast" (Tague 300). Commenting on a poem by Horace Walpole regarding a butcher and a lamb being slaughtered, Tague introduces how our perspective alters the meaning of grieving, our animals, and emotional connections. The butcher disregards the magnitude of his actions of slaughtering the lamb. Even though the life of the lamb has been taken, the poet recognizes the broken connection between man and animal. Epitaphs become another form of expressing this connection. They assist in the process and ultimately help us grieve. Although, writers may take advantage of this narrative.
Akin to stereotypical poets and writers, they manage to weave metaphors and symbolism into epitaphs and the grieving accounts of the man. Tague mentions that birds in a cage, "...was a kind of surrogate feminism because women identified with suffering, caged animals" (Tague 296). The usage of animals as a near allegory manifests animals' deep roots in symbolism- especially art and literature. Political movements find a haven by using animals instead of outright critiques, such as the novel Animal Farm.
This exhibits mankind's tendency to portray animals concerning ourselves, even when relating to death.
This emotional connection is also shown akin to cultural values and self-reflection. Tague remarks, "pets seemed to symbolize the worst sort of feminine weakness for all things useless, and the shallowness of female affections" (Tague 302). The gendered construct of femininity can be portrayed in cultural values towards pets and animals. The view that pets were too high a luxury and shown as weakness showcases British society's disregard and disrespect towards women. Their values also shift, and are shown by the epitaphs when switching from the 18th to 19th centuries; the blending of masculinity takes place. Sexism manages to take its place towards human's viewpoints of pets and their relationship with them.
Whether sexist or not, epitaphs and human grieving processes help portray deep and meaningful emotional connections to animals. These epitaphs may have been "a jeu d'espirit" or satire at first. However, they evolved into something much greater and personal in the early 1800s in British society. They exhibit how changing social norms affect all aspects of daily life. Pet and owner relationships shift and change with time in a game of balance with these norms. Even if society believed, "that children could absorb any unpleasant moral characteristics of wet nurses along with their milk," (Tague 295) and that children could do the same with animals, their values adjusted accordingly.
Finally, the process of dying may not even be an escape from the beratement and influence of humanity. Not even the poor grieving human soul, or animal, can escape its monotonous effects.
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