The Significance of Graveyards in History and Literature
Graveyards have been utilised by writers for centuries to establish symbolism and provide a meaningful location for their plot. One of the most famous being Shakespeare who employed the use of a graveyard in his ‘Gravediggers’ scene’ in Hamlet. Shakespeare used this scene to provide comedic relief for his play, however, it also served as a function to lighten up the morbidity of death and represented the duality of life and death, which highlighted the short tether between the two. In today’s world they are used heavily in television and film as a backdrop to emotive and poignant scenes.
Illustration of Body Snatchers
The graveyard was particularly prominent in Victorian and Edwardian Gothic Literature, most predominantly as a representation of people’s social surroundings. It was a time of doubt, pessimism, the supernatural and a monumental gap between the social classes. The evolution of science in British society standings meant that there was a shift away from religion. The uneasy marriage between science and the supernatural led to much debate in Victorian society and ultimately groups such as the ‘Resurrectionists’ who exhumed recently deceased bodies to be sold and used as medical cadavers. This made the graveyard a place of seedy, illegal business on the outskirts of society and went away from it being a place of eternal rest at the centre of society.
Original sketch for Dickens by John Leech
Dickens was one of the most famous authors of this period and his use of the graveyard can be seen in his novella A Christmas Carol. The most obvious example is in Stave Four when the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge his untended grave, which is devoid of mourners and is the ultimate warning for him to change his ungiving, high society ways. The more nuanced example was in Stave One when phantoms filled the air of London, roaming restlessly with chains encasing them. The superstitious nature of the Victorians suggests that through this Dickens implemented a graveyard for people’s spirits who did not do enough good in life. It represents a graveyard that was not peaceful or still. Not only this but Dickens arguably meant that London itself was the graveyard of the upper classes’ making, as by not helping the less fortunate in society they made it so they were unable to live properly. Dickens meant for these to serve as a metaphor for what would happen if the gap between the classes in Victorian London was not bridged.
The graveyard as a site has been used as a symbol of the past, and as a connection to a location’s history. The examination of graveyards using what Toni Morrison deemed as “literary archaeology” allows the historical significance of the site to shine through. The landscape of a graveyard is not just about the physicality of it, but also the cultural product that it was born out of and how people interact with it. The graveyard is a site of memory and is the ultimate juxtaposition of itself because even though it is a place for the deceased, it is brought alive by the people visiting it and the memories of those who had been laid to rest. By exploring the graveyard in the anthropological terms of ‘place’ and ‘space’, the significance of the site can be seen in social and cultural terms as well as historical ones. Anthropologists believe that ‘space’ is something that is unbounded and neutral, which means that ‘place’ is something that is built out of the experiences of those who lived there and made the space their own. Therefore, there is the idea that places take on lives of their own, which has made the idea of the graveyard one that has fascinated society for generations and one that has been a prominent setting for writers.
In social history there is an instrumental link between graveyards and historic conservation. The art of preserving the past is one of an archaeologist’s most significant jobs and their ability to do that through maintaining graveyards, and even moving the site if it is deemed to be in danger is of particular importance. Jillian Forsberg’s The Rhino Keeper highlights this historic conservation and can be linked to the philosophical movement of ‘phenomenology’ which is the study of human lived experience. The graveyard as a site connects all aspects of history and allows the ones living at the present to engage with it. Forsberg also establishes that it is not only the most important figures of history that deserve a peaceful resting place, but the ordinary, everyday people also.
The graveyard must be looked at as an ever-evolving site, that is up for interpretation by different writers from different times.
About the Author
Grace E. Turton is an aspiring historical consultant with an MA in Social History and BA in History & Media from Leeds Beckett University. Grace specialises in British and Italian history but loves reading and researching about all aspects of history. In her free time, you can find her exploring the Yorkshire Dales with her dog Bear, watching classic films and playing rugby league. Grace is passionate about keeping history alive and believes that an integral part of this is maintained through History Through Fiction’s purpose.
In The Rhino Keeper, Jillian Forsberg masterfully blends historical fiction with archaeological intrigue. The novel follows Andrea Clarkson's discovery of hidden documents and artifacts that reveal the captivating journey of a rhinoceros across 18th-century Europe, showcasing the power of historical conservation and the enduring impact of forgotten stories.
The Rhino Keeper deftly weaves a very modern tale of a young historian who makes a life-changing discovery with the true story of an eighteenth-century Dutch sea captain who toured Europe with a fully-grown female Indian rhinoceros called Clara. Readers will be pulling for the central characters, past and present, as we follow in Clara’s outsize footsteps to discover her history and final fate.
–Glynis Ridley, author of Clara’s Grand Tour: Travels with a Rhinoceros in Eighteenth-Century Europe
