Animal Inspired Dog Names

William Shakespeare is, if not the most famous writer in the world than certainly the world’s most renowned playwright and his works are unparalleled to this day. But who would have thought that out of all the internal and external conflicts, situations and characters that make up the Shakespearean cosmos, he explicitly mentioned a dog only once? Yes, that’s right, and this dog’s name was none other than Crab! Crab the Dog shows up in The Two Gentleman of Verona, but he isn’t some twisted half crab half dog creature, and he shows up in just one scene. Of course, he has no lines, and he is treated with disdain by his master Launce, a clownish servant who accuses him of the following: “I think Crab, my dog, be the sourest-natured dog that lives”.

You may ask yourself what was Crab the Dog’s wrongdoing? Namely, during an emotional family scene, Crab “sheds not a tear nor speaks a word.” Even the cat, as Launce says, was “wringing her hands”, whatever that may mean. It is believed that Launce’s and Crab’s troubled relationship slightly cynically mimics the relationship between the main characters of the play’s love triangle. And indeed, it is quite quirky and hilarious.

However, even though Crab the Dog doesn’t get a lot of ‘airtime’ on stage, it is still quite an amazing thing that Shakespeare decided to create a dog with such a unique, unbelievable name. His ingenious creativity is once again on display as he shows his out-of-the-ordinary talent, both for comedy and the art of dog naming. Interestingly enough, even though he plays a marginal part in this play, pop culture took advantage of the appeal of Crab the Dog. In the movie Academy Award-winning movie Shakespeare in Love, Queen Elizabeth I famously declares that ‘the bit with the dog’ is her favorite part of The Two Gentlemen of Verona that is being enacted in front of her. And of course, who can blame her? It is unusually refreshing to see a depiction of a dog that is not just an ordinary, loving sidekick to his master, but a strong-willed animal, which Crab the Dog certainly is. And if this is not a worthy reason to visit the theatre, we don’t know what is. Plus, talk about the conversation starter if you name your pooch - Crab. You two would be the stars of the beach and the talk of the town!