Pets, People, and the Enduring 'Dogaturgy' of Nineteenth-Century Dog Dramas. Issue 2 (November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hughes, Amy E.
• Other Names: Williams Carolyn guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Nineteenth century theatre and film. Volume 48:Issue 2(2021)
• Page Start: 220
• Page End: 233
• Publication Date: 2021-11
• Subjects: Melodrama -- theatre -- dramaturgy -- dogs -- pets -- petkeeping; Performing arts -- History -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Performing arts -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Performing arts -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Theater -- History -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Theater -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Theater and society -- Periodicals; Drama -- History and criticism -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Silent films -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; 306.48409034
• DOI: 10.1177/17483727211040180
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1748-3727

Abstract

Dogs began playing new roles as emotional companions in Eurowestern households during the mid-1800s; by the 1880s, dogs were widely considered 'family members' in middle-class homes. The nineteenth-century 'dog drama', a type of melodrama, helps illuminate how, when, and why this attitudinal change occurred. The transatlantic appeal of dog dramas (such as René-Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt's 1814 melodrama The Dog of Montargis ) and performers who specialised in the genre (such as U.S. actor-entrepreneur Edwin Blanchard) suggest that sentimental stories about dogs appealed to working-class people as well. These plays reflected, and perhaps contributed to, changing views about dogs during the nineteenth century. The dog drama and its afterlives (in film, television, and social media) shed light on both the good intentions and troubling contradictions inherent in humans' relationships with nonhuman animals, especially pets.