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Essay Subject: Examines nature & impact of late 19th Cent. British monarch's reign.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Examines nature & impact of late 19th Cent. British monarch's reign. Paper Introduction: Only two British monarchs have made such an impression that their given names have become synonymous with their eras. Both, it happens, were women: Elizabeth I and Victoria. Several British kings do have historical periods associated with their names  "Jacobian" for James I and "Edwardian" for Edward VII  but neither approaches the everyday familiarity and resonance of "Elizabethan" and "Victorian," their ability to evoke an era with a word. No doubt two factors that they had in common were the sheer length of their reigns, and the association of those reigns with distinctly marked historical periods. But the individual qualities of these two women also played a part in making them personifications of their eras. In some ways, Victoria's achievement in becoming the symbo Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. It was by processes like this -- essentially, the graduallysolidification of the unwritten constitution -- that Victoria was strippedof much of her personal power by an age much given to orderly processes andstructures. But once parties had a closely defined structure, sothat the Opposition had a full shadow cabinet, this option was foreclosedto the Crown. Since then, it had beenlargely downhill for the monarchy. Only herfather, Henry VIII, enjoyed such untrammelled power. On her firstpublic occasion as Queen, observers commented on her "perfect calmness andself-possession" combined with "a graceful modesty and propriety."5Victoria's character, indeed, was as perfectly suited to the "Victorian"era as Elizabeth I's was to the Elizabethan. New York: Knopf, 1972. The two reigns immediately before Victoria's were both relativelyshort and thoroughly undistinguished. Several British kings do have historicalperiods associated with their names -- "Jacobian" for James I and"Edwardian" for Edward VII -- but neither approaches the everydayfamiliarity and resonance of "Elizabethan" and "Victorian," their abilityto evoke an era with a word. 6Longford, 359. In the late eighteenth century, however, theKing could still be a dominant figure in government if he so chose. George IV was a thorough profligatewho had ten children by his favorite mistress and made a scandal by tryingto divorce his Queen for adultery. At the time that Victoria came to the throne, in 1837, as a girlof eighteen, the British Crown, though it still had substantial powers, wasfar from having the sort of prestige we associate with it today. The causes of thisseemingly contrary pattern will be examined below. She fundamentally believed in her own prerogative,and early in her reign she seemed to feel it unnatural that she should haveto name new ministers from the opponents of the previous ministry.7 ________ 5Cecil Woodham-Smith, Queen Victoria (New York: Knopf, 1972),139. David and Eva Leckstrum Gray, trans. Parliamentaryrule had evolved largely out of the vacuum of royal neglect, but by thelate 183 s it was powerfully reinforced by the ideas associated withliberalism, and one of those ideas was republicanism. Victoria and the Victorians. In other words, the political power of the Britishmonarchy diminished during her reign. There was never theslightest doubt that Elizabeth I ruled as well as reigned. But the individual qualities ofthese two women also played a part in making them personifications of theireras. Democracy and Empire. In some ways, Victoria's achievement in becoming the symbol of anage is more remarkable. The early Hanoverian Georges, moreGerman than British, tended to ignore government, and Parliament was nearlyfree to expand into a vacuum. New York: Delacorte, 1972. Poorly educated (compared, for example, with Elizabeth I),Victoria brought a great deal of naivete to her original conduct in hermost political roles. But at the same time, by her personal conduct and bearing shereturned prestige to an institution, and kept her political role enough"behind the scenes" as to broadly avoid controversy. The reason was not aformal (or even informal) constitutional change, or public doubts aboutVictoria's role, but the strengthening force of party ties and partyloyalties.8 So long as the parties were relatively loose groupings inParliament, a monarch, will no longer free to keep a ministry that had lostits majority mandate, could exercise some leverage over the choices ofincoming ministries. Sources E. Tingston, Herbert. 9Ibid., 75-76. (New York: Delacorte, 1972), 122ff. 4Elizabeth Longford, ed. During the earlier years of her reign, she several times had theopportunity to influence the naming of cabinet ministers -- even, onoccasion, of the Prime Minister. The bicycle-riding monarchs ofWestern Europe cannot be compared to the British Crown; while the JapaneseEmperor is surrounded by ceremonial, he still bears the scars of World WarII memories, and is not a face Japan eagerly presents to the world -- incontrast to Buckingham Palace, which is a standard and integral part ofBritain's public face. Only two British monarchs have made such an impression that theirgiven names have become synonymous with their eras. Thus, when Victoria came to the throne as a teenaged girl,________ 3Ibid., 73. and informal, and become nearly the ceremonial monarchy we areaccustomed to today. But the unique situation of the British monarchy developedaccording to no plan, just as the practice of constitutional ________ 2Ibid., 71. The throne was protected from the first by Victoria's greatpersonal dignity, which was noticeable from an early age. London: Edward Arnold, 1985. ________ 8E. Later in his reign he drifted in and outof insanity, and the country in and out of Regency -- a state of affairsnot calculated to strengthen the monarchy. Longford, Elizabeth. TheBritish monarchy is today unique in the world as a symbol of stabilitywithin a democratic political system. The Oxford Book of Royal Anecdotes (NewYork: Oxford University Press, 1989), 33 . New York: Oxford, 1989. Among her most-renownedremarks was "I will be good."6 Originally made to a childhood tutor, itwould be a satisfactory summary of her public goals throughout her reign. At the end, the monarchywas a national icon. Both, it happens, werewomen: Elizabeth I and Victoria. At the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign of nearly sixty-four years,the British governmental system was already a constitutional monarchy, butthe reigning monarch still had broad if ill-defined powers.1 By the timeVictoria was succeeded by Edward VII, the monarchy had lost many of itspowers, both formal ________ 1Herbert Tingsten, Victoria and the Victorians, David and EvaLeckstrom Gray, trans. J. government itself was in a sense an unplanned contingency. With few exceptions, her predecessors since the reign of Queen Elizabeth had been bad rulers, shifty, deceitful, exceptionally stupid or exceptionally licentious, and all of them with a taint of general moral squalor.3 Stuarts were overwhelmed by it. The British monarchy seems to deserve the homagepaid by Egypt's King Farouk (after he was deposed), when he remarked thatthe world would soon have only five kings, the four in a deck of cards andthe King of England. Victoria fromthe first had fewer powers of command, and even these were reduced as timewent on. By the Jubilees of 1887 and1897, "most of the Queen's loyal subjects regarded them as her own personaltriumphs."2 Thus, though Victoria's power waned in the course of herreign, her influence in many respects increased. Queen Victoria. No doubt two factors that they had in commonwere the sheer length of their reigns, and the association of those reignswith distinctly marked historical periods. Elizabeth I reigned at the high-water of Tudorabsolutism, with broader prerogatives than those of the medieval kings thatcame before, or of the Stuart and Hanoverians kings who followed. J. the prospects of the monarchy might have appeared poor. As late as 1868, she was able to chooseDisraeli from a list of three candidates. Feuchtwanger. On his demise a wit remarked that When from earth the Fourth descended, God be praised, the Georges ended.4 William IV, the "Sailor King," was an improvement on George IV, butfar from an impressive embodiment of monarchy. In contrast, however, her ownpersonal influence and prestige increased. GeorgeIII did so choose, but sadly lacked the requisite abilities, as theAmerican Revolution demonstrated. 7Tingsten, 123. Woodham-Smith, Cecil. The Tudorshad managed Parliament without much difficulty. Had Victoria provenineffectual or embarrassing, the monarchy might have been shoved aside asan awkward anachronism. This power, however, waseffectively eliminated by the reforms of the 186 s. Feuchtwanger, Democracy and Empire (London: Edward Arnold,1985), 53. The Oxford Book of Royal Anecdotes. After some stir inthe 186 s, republicanism faded from the political agenda, and with it anyserious threat to the monarchy.9 At the start of Victoria's reign, themonarchy was an outdated political institution. On the other hand, had the monarchy become anarrow prop for the reactionary aristocracy and gentry, it might havebecome a party issue. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.