Queen Victoria and Her Influence on British Society Essay

1. The problems that Thomas Paine sees with the British monarchy involve its straying from ideal government, the unjust placement of one individual above all others, and its hereditary aspect. The problems that Thomas Paine sees with King George III in particular are his personal transgressions against liberty. Thomas Paine, firstly views government as “but a necessary evil” (15), and therefore it should be both as limited as possible and also tied to the more positive society. The ideal form of government, thus according to Paine, is a simple republic where the elected are forced to be accountable to their electors (16). The British monarchy fails in all accounts; not only does the prescence of a monarchy at all eliminate the accountability of a republic, but the complicatedness of the British monarchy system makes it worse in this aspect than even other monarchies. Although absolute monarchies are horrid in that they give no power to the people, they are still simpler than the British monarchy; this makes issues much more difficult to handle in the British monarchy (17). The other problems that Paine has with the British monarchy apply to monarchies at large. Paine argues that the placement of one person above all others is an unnatural divide; there is no explanation for the division of people into “KINGS and SUBJECTS” (22) such as there are in other forms of division that humans live with. If it does not make sense to place one individual above all others, then such should most certainly not be law; therefore, from this logic, monarchy, which is entirely based on the principle of placing one person (and their relatives) above all others, is an invalid and unnatural form of government. Of course, some people could, arguably, have earned the admiration and respect of their peers through important action, and thus be deserving of a leadership position. In a republic, by listening to their electors, the elected earn their right to lead. However, the hereditary monarchy removes this earning of the right to lead, and Paine takes issue with that. There is no guarantee that the descendants of a good leader will also be good leaders, and therefore the government of a country should never be left to heredity (29).

Very few people have ever met a queen in their life. Even fewer know a queen on a personal level. Fortunately, I have been blessed to be one of those people. Actually, she isn’t a queen; she is my best friend’s mother. Vilinda Sue “Vicky” Boyett or “Queen Victoria” as I call her is a kind, compassionate woman who will not only take the shirt off her back to give to you, but teach you to sew one for yourself. Vicky Boyett was born in Tampa, Florida on January 26, 1959. She was the daughter of Air Force parents and constantly moved across the country which has granted her with numerous stories. She met her late husband, Ronnie Boyett, at a football game through her brother. The two were married during the Christmas break of her senior

Elizabeth was sixty-seven years old. She still enjoyed walking outdoors and she rode her favorite horses-Grey Pool and Black Wilford- almost every day. At parties, she made a point of dancing so that members of the court would see that their queen was still lively and energetic. Often, the queen tired out many young partygoers. Elizabeth had ruled for forty-one

Significance: Though Victor was only 17 years old and Elizabeth was even younger, they describe how they were teaching their younger siblings and taking care of them similar to a how a nurse will which was romantic for their family. On the other hand they also had responsibility because

“She stretched forth her body and said “Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” And so she ended.” Extract from The Tower of London by Harrison Ainsworth. Where do you see yourself in 4 years? How would you react if you were told you had been chosen as king or queen of England? This reality was all too real for Lady Jane Grey, the quiet young girl from Leicestershire. At the age of 17 Jane became queen, but not for long. This biography will follow the fascinating life of this intelligent protestant women and explore what makes her story one of the most captivating of her time.

Although history has labeled King George III of Britain primarily as the “mad” king responsible for the loss of America, a closer look at the 1780s, the heart of his reign, proves George III to be a particularly effective monarch rather than the bungling idiot some scholars have dubbed him. George III’s effectiveness, during the 1780s, stemmed from his immense popularity with the common people, which lay in direct contrast to his lack of popularity with Parliament. The popularity that George III enjoyed with the masses was largely due to his personal integrity and moral character, and his lack of popularity with Parliament was a result of his desire to reclaim

King Edward VIII, known as ‘David’ to the family, was the eldest child of King George V and his wife, Queen Mary of Teck. While growing up, Edward did not have a close relationship with his father which created a lack of sympathy and understanding between the two. Due to their different perspectives, they were not able to relate on issues concerning the Crown as “(King George V was) strict and self-disciplined… who sought to imbue their children with a strong sense of duty”1. Whereas Edward would grow bored of the formalities of royal occasions. Although Edward disliked the work of the Crown, he did multiple tours on behalf of Britain to establish the seriousness of the Monarchy’s role. From 1919 to 1922, he travelled to almost every continent including South America, Australia and the Far

In 1837 queen Victoria started her reign as queen of England. She affected the whole world with the political decisions that she made while queen. But these decisions were dictated by things that started the day she was born and even during her reign as queen. Many people don’t really know much about Queen Victoria so they can ask why is your political leader worth studying? What has changed because of her being queen? What lead her and motivated her to make the choices she made? All of these things can be determined by looking at her past life and life during her reign that affected the way she ruled. There are two parts that will be discussed in her life that have affected her as a political leader. The first part has to deal with her

Queen Victoria was born on May 24, 1819, in Kensington Palace in London. Her parents were Edward, the Duke of Kent, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg. When Queen Victoria was 8 months old her father passed away, and her mother reacted by shunning Victoria's uncles on her father’s side, William IV and George IV. Having had a secluded upbringing her personality hardened and she grew into having strong prejudices towards others and became very stubborn. She was also inclined to self-pity. Her mother's advisor Sir John Conroy twisted her childhood from her. He was the one who had convinced her mother to shun the uncles, and convinced her to raise Victoria by the "Kensington system." This system isolated Victoria from most, and, in Conroy's hopes, would make her depend on him to rule the country. When both her uncle's passed away before succeeding the throne, at 18 years old she became the Queen, and she did so alone. The one thing her mother did teach her was to be cautious in who she friended. Victoria's memory held firm of those who mistreated her, and she was not one to 'forgive and forget'. Queen Victoria disagreed with some of the traditions and values that had been around. For one she hated childbirth and everything to do with children, yet she was supposed to represent motherhood and family and she did. Even though she

England’s lengthy history of hereditary monarchs and abusive absolutists has led to the system of constitutionalism in 17th century English government. The encouragement of these absolutism practices triggered the need to search for a new way to govern. The reigns of the Stuart monarchy led to the shift from absolutism to constitutionalism during 17th century England. After witnessing the success of Louis XIV's of France establishment of absolutism, England would soon see that James I, and his son Charles I, will fail at establishing absolutism in England and see a constitutional government established.

Born on 24 May, 1819 in Kensington Palace, Alexandrina Victoria was the only daughter of Edward, the Duke of Kent and Victoria Maria Louisa of Saxe-Coburg. At birth, Victoria was the fifth in line after her father and his three older brothers. Eight months after her birth, her father had died and she was the next in line as her three uncles before her had no legitimate children who survived. In 1830 after her uncle George IV died, she became heiress presumptive next to her surviving uncle, William IV. The Regency Act of 1830 made special provision for the Duchess of Kent to act as her regent just in case William died while Victoria was still a minor. King William in 1836 declared in the Duchess’ presence that he wanted to live until

In "My Last Duchess", by Robert Browning, the character of Duke is portrayed as having controlling, jealous, and arrogant traits. These traits are not all mentioned verbally, but mainly through his actions. In the beginning of the poem the painting of the Dukes wife is introduced to us: "That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,/ looking as of she were still alive" (1-2). These lines leave us with the suspicion that the Duchess is no longer alive, but at this point were are not totally sure. In this essay I will discuss the Dukes controlling, jealous and arrogant traits he possesses through out the poem.

The world today consists of children roaming the streets, technology taking over the world, and being able to work wherever you'd like but, could you imagine a life without all these things? Believe it or not there was a time in life where these things were very uncommon to see. This would be known as the victorian era. This time period was between 1837 and 1901. Daily life was very different from now. Health, social classes, and fashion are just three examples of how daily life was different in the victorian era.

Victoria was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 to 1901. She was the only daughter of Edward, the Duke of Kent. Her father died shortly after she was born and she became heir to the throne. The Victorian Age was characterised by rapid change and developments in almost everything. From advances in medical, scientific and technological knowledge, to changes in population growth and location. Today, we associate the 19th century with the work ethic, family values, religious observation and institutional faith. In 1840, Queen Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. At first, the British public did not particularly like the German prince, and he was excluded from holding any official political position. At times, their marriage was hectic because they both had

great prosperity in Great Britain's literature. The Victorian Age produced a variety of changes. Political and social reform produced a variety of reading among all classes. The lower-class became more self-conscious, the middle class more powerful and the rich became more vulnerable. The novels of Charles Dickens, the poems of Alfred,