Victorian Animals in Literature and Culture

By: Deborah Morse, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Deborah Morse

While the popular image of the Victorian world is one of stiff formality and old-fashioned values, it was an incredibly transformative time for many people who sought better protections, fairer wages, and greater freedom. And this included an increasingly popular and successful fight for animal welfare. Prior to the 19th century, the mistreatment of animals was rarely questioned, and sports like bullbaiting and dogfighting were common. So, what brought the plight of exploited and suffering animals to the attention of activists, politicians, and the public at large?

In the eight lectures of Victorian Animals in Literature and Culture, Professor Deborah Morse will take you back to the reign of Queen Victoria to explore the transformation of long-held ideas, beliefs, and fears concerning animals—and our own animal natures as well. Through novels such as Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty and Virginia Woolf’s Flush, as well as stories and books by Beatrix Potter, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ernest Thomas Seton, and many others, you will see how a developing kinship with animals in literature and art presented new perspectives that would inform more than just the cause of animal welfare. While many writers were directly concerned with the ethics of animal treatment and our coexistence with the animal kingdom, stories featuring animals often make resonant and vital observations about the human world, too.

As you will see, the ethical considerations that took root and grew in the 19th century still deeply inform the way we think today. Professor Morse brings your journey full circle by examining a 21st-century novel, Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, which shows how the ideas and explorations of the Victorians affect the present. Through this work and those that preceded it, you’ll see how our conception of the feelings, intelligence, and rights of animals has changed not only the way we think about them, but how we live together with them in our shared world.

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Excellent Series

Morse's voice is warm and welcoming. Her historical overview of animal representation and animal rights is masterful. Her close reading of the texts she ably chooses for this journey that precedes Victoria's rise to the throne and takes us into early 20th-century modernism is illuminating.

An Amazing Analysis of the Role of Animals in Victorian Literature!

As a small animal veterinarian with a life-long love of both animals and literature, this is a fascinating, thorough analysis of how even in the Victorian Era, how animals were treated extends to how we treat people of races and classes other than our own. I particularly loved the sections on Black Beauty. Dr Morse’s love for her chosen area of focus is evident in both her writing and her reading, and with her voice and intonation, she is an impeccable narrator! I highly recommend - brava!

Highly recommended

This scholarly, illuminating and heartfelt offering will captivate anyone who loves animals and literature. It is beautifully narrated by the author, who clearly brings to the project a deep love of animals and an impressive knowledge of the works explored. Very affecting and informative!

Black Beauty and more, beautifully explained

With explanations both historical and literary, Professor Morse adeptly weaves threads of Darwinism, Christian witnessing, and the anti-slavery, women’s rights, and especially animal rights movements in England to explain Black Beauty, Beautiful Joe, and other Victorian era writings. With my new understanding, I, for one, am determined to read Black Beauty again. I particularly loved the lecture on Beatrix Potter and Edward Lear, with its fanciful characters and lovely ending, imagining Lear and his beloved cat, “….hand in hand, dancing to the light of the moon.” A great listen—both fun and educational!

Enchanting and enlightening

In this warmly read and thoughtfully crafted lecture series, Morse seamlessly weaves anecdote with analysis as she pours a career’s worth of passion and research into a beautiful and moving series. Listeners will love the journey through the Victorian era and into the modern day as Morse engages with current literature and issues in the context of the historical. Morse’s reading of this undoubtedly great course makes her vast knowledge of the overlap between Victorian literature and animal welfare both accessible and enjoyable. “Victorian Animals…” is a must-listen for scholars, readers, and animal lovers alike!