Introduction

The effect of Charles Darwin's ideas was both to make the human more animal and the animal more human, destabilizing boundaries in both directions. The study of animals in the Victorian period has largely been circumscribed by national boundaries. The effect of both works was to foster the growing belief in animal subjectivity, and to embolden those who fought for the relief of animal pain. Jacques Derrida claims that classifying the multiplicity of other life forms under the homogenizing category "animal" is a "crime of the first order against animals". While Derrida's approach is radical, the boundary between the animal and the human has long been unstable, especially since the Victorian period. Human relations with animals took many forms, running the gamut from the Victorian displacement of human fears and desires onto their pets to the decision to shoot or hang elephants for their "crimes". The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.