The Beast in the Boudoir: Petkeeping in Nineteenth-Century Paris

In nineteenth-century Paris, Kathleen Kete's study of petkeeping reveals how the family dog reflected the tensions of modernity for the Parisian bourgeoisie. It explores various literary and archival sources, such as dog-care books, veterinarians' records, and Dumas's musings on his cat, to demonstrate how petkeeping was a way to imagine a better, more manageable version of the world and relieve the pressures of contemporary life. By the century's end, animals no longer represented the human condition as strongly, and the cat was rehabilitated into a creature of fidelity and affection.

Format: Hardback
Length: 212 pages
Publication date: 15 July 2022
Publisher: University of California Press

In her insightful and witty exploration of petkeeping in nineteenth-century Paris, Kathleen Kete offers a distinctive lens through which to glimpse the lives of ordinary French people. Through her analysis, she reveals how the family dog, a quintessential symbol of modern life, encapsulates the tensions that modernity brought to the Parisian bourgeoisie. Kete's study draws upon a diverse range of literary and archival sources, including dog-care books, veterinarian records, and even the musings of Dumas on his cat. These sources shed light on various aspects of petkeeping, such as the fad for aquariums, attitudes toward vivisection, the fear of rabies, the development of dog breeding, and more. By delving into these topics, Kete demonstrates how middle-class individuals perceived their lives and sought to create a better, more manageable version of the world. Petkeeping, she argues, served as a means to alleviate the pressures of contemporary life and improvisate solutions to the complex web that characterized post-Enlightenment France. The loyal and affectionate family dog, in particular, became a counterpoint to the isolation and lack of community prevalent in urban environments. However, as the century progressed, animals lost their potency in representing the human condition, and even the irascible and autonomous cat was rehabilitated into a creature of fidelity and affection.

This innovative book offers a wealth of fascinating details that will enrich our understanding of culture and the formation of class. It is a valuable contribution to the field and aligns with UC Press's Voices Revived program, which celebrates the mission of the press to seek out and nurture the brightest minds and provide them with a platform to express their ideas. Voices Revived leverages print-on-demand technology to make high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible to a wider audience, reviving titles that were originally published in the past. This particular title was first published in 1994 and continues to resonate with readers today.

Weight: 454g
Dimension: 234 x 156 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520367708