Although published in the early decades of the 20th century (1913), “Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?” can be interpreted as an ironic response to the sometimes-overwrought culture surrounding death during the Victorian Era (1837-1901) that dominated much of Hardy’s life.

In Victorian England, mourning was elevated almost to an art form, with various complicated rituals surrounding the rites of death and grieving. The Victorians were not particularly squeamish about death: One notorious practice, known as “post-mortem photography,” involved taking photos of the corpses of loved ones who had recently died, for commemoration and display. Open viewings of the body in the casket during funerals were commonplace, with loved ones often kissing the hands or face of the deceased while paying their respects. Grief was regarded as something that should be ostentatious and lengthy in duration: Upper and middle class widows were expected to dress in gradually lessening degrees of black and avoid remarrying for a prescribed period of time, sometimes last up to several years. Men often wore black arm bands or other signs of mourning along with their daily attire during the mourning period as well.

These strict and intensive rituals could often render mourning mawkishly sentimental or even fetishized, including in the literature of the time (See Literary

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