Without and Within: Victorian Mourning and Treatment of the Dead

Weird Science: Anatomical Use of the Dead

This final chapter returns us to the first chapter’s insistence that the individual is actively monitoring their health and wellness for social and cultural gains. It seems Victorians did not allow death to stop this mirroring process. In this chapter, we build off of the body-snatchers of the previous chapter, starting with how the medical community responded to the taboo caused by cases like Burke and Hare. From there we turn to the final usage of the dead: the furthering of medical and natural sciences. No longer paraded around by mourners, moldering in the grave, or viewed only as a means to obtain profit for the living, the dead are paradoxically given subjectivity yet again, but in close relationship to state power and governance.  It is this chapter that highlights what seems to be the true resurrection of the dead.

In the first section, we hear primarily from the contemporary medical community about the utility of the dead. We begin with periodicals entries that showcase two opinions from prominent medical professionals who are either promoting the usage of bodies (calling for legislation to avoid the unfortunate body-snatching taboo), or explaining their own intention to continue to serve society nobly after death as donated cadavers. We end this section towards the end of the century with an account of a surgeon during the heyday of the illegal body-snatching movement and a contemporary opinion piece, outlining the defense of the sacred rights of the dead.

In the anthology’s final section, we try to end on a lighter note: the honoring of those that have passed on, yet still give selflessly to their peers. We begin this section within the Burke and Hare scandal in the early portion of the century, hearing directly how the medical and scientific communities responded to the crimes committed by Resurrectionists. Turning our attention to the arts, we view two pieces that show the beauty of and reverence for the dead—here the dead body becomes heroic, kind, benevolent, selfless, and sublimely beautiful and awe-inspiring. We end the chapter and the anthology with a practical guide to caring for the body during examination and dissection. Here, as with the etiquette guides, there is a refined cultural custom evolving in examining and interacting with the scientifically-donated dead.  

For reading: You can either click any of the sub-sections presented on this page, or start with "Practicing with Burke and Hare” and follow the prescribed path to the end of this chapter.
 

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