Queen Victoria Essay, Research Paper

Queen Victoria, written by

Carolly Erickson, was a candid tale of the life of Victoria, a British queen

whose obstinate and pertinacious behavior helped to maintain England’s

impenetrable reign over the rest of the world. Erickson aimed to prove that

women, such as Victoria, were entirely competent of governing themselves and

others, even though women were regarded as inferior and in need of male

supervision. The author successfully accomplished her purpose of depicting

Victoria in a positive light by imforming the reader of how she managed to

triumph over adversity despiite her callous upbringing. Princess Alexandria

Victoria was born on May 24, 1819, to the Duke and Duchess of Kent in Kensington

Palace. Unfortunately, the Duke passed away shortly after her birth. Therefore,

Victoria’s upbringing was left in the hands of her avaricious and irascible

mother in the hands of her father’s tyrannical equerry, Captain Conroy. With

only their own self-interests in mind, Victoria’s care takers attempted to

deprive the young princess of her childhood by enforcing stringent rules and by

confining her to the palace. Her own relatives tired to deny her noteworthy

status of being third in line for the throne, and they publicly regarded her as

an intruder. However, there were, in fact, many favorable aspects of Victoria;s

childhood and adolescence. Victoria was taught the grace of dance and the beauty

of art in her childhood, and she learned to appreciate her future role as queen

through her extensive study of British history. She was quite a determined and

uncompromising young princess, and this attitude remained with her throughout

her reign as Queen of England. Soon after the death of King William IV, Princess

Victoria was crowned as queen at the legal age of eighteen. Queen Victoria

aspired to be a fit and upright ruler of England, and iwth the assistance of the

English government, Victoria was able to constitute order in all areas of her

empire. Her marriage to her cousin, Prince Albert of Sax-Coburg-Gotha, was very

advantageous and favorable for both Victoria and her empire. Albert privided the

emotional stability that Victoria required in that period of time, and he also

supplied England with his wonderful expertise in political and social issues.

Their marriage produced nine children who continued this English dynasty after

the death of their parents. Albert’s tragic death had a detrimental impact on

Victoria’s life because her husbands served as an emotional crutch for her, and

she suddenly felt overwhelmed by her responsibilities as queen. However, with

the guidance of her extraordinary prime ministers, Victoria was able to be

victorious in wars in Crimea an Prussia. Uner Victoria’s rule, England was able

to assert its power over India, a country in which Victoria attempted to gain

popularity among its citizens. Queen Victoria also organized housing

arrangements for England’s less fortunate citizens and medical care for the

workmen in England’s factories. There were incessant disputes among the Whigs

and Tories in Parliament, which Victoria successfully ceased, and there were

difficulties concerning the British occupation of Sudan, Africa. However,

Victoria was able to overcome these hardships and to gain the admiration of her

kingdom. On January 22, 1901, Queen Victoria died at the age of eighty one,

leaving behind an empire that lamented over the death of such a remarkable

ruler. Carolly Erickson’s biography of Queen Victoria provided an equitable

insight into Victoira’s life as queen. Erickson supplied elaborate descriptions

of England’s palaces and royal celebrations, allowing the reader to easily

envision these places and festivities. For example, the author described the

House of Windsor with a great deal of detail when writing, "Beyond the

magnificent furnishings, glowing tapestries, and fine paintings that adorned the

ancient castle’s living quarters, there were riches brought from India, booty

taken from Tippoo Sahib, including a golden tiger’s head and sparkling sculpted

peacock studded with rubies and emeralds." Furthermore, the author also

included excerpts from Victoria’s private journal, which she maintained in the

years before and during her rule. These excerpts allowed the reader to view

Victoria with feelings of admiration and enderment. The reader was able to share

in Victoria’s triumphs and tragedies and to understand the emotions that she

felt during certain episodes in her life. For instance, Victoria was terribly

grieved after the death of her beloved husband, and she felt as if she was

lacking part of her soal because of his untimely death. The readers gained an

insight into her pain when reading an excerpt from her journal in which she

said, "I stood up, kissing his dear heavenly forehead and called out in a

bitter agonizing cry: ?Oh! my dear darling!’ and then dropped on my knees in

mute, distracted despair, unable to utter a word or shed a tear." This

biography was a delight and pleasure to read because of these personal excerpts

taken from Victoria’s private diary. Victoria often imparted information in the

entries of her journal, recounting her feelings toward some of her political

advisors. She once wrote of a dispute with one of her advisors and of her

animosity toward him. She said, "I pitched into him with a vehemence and

indignation-which was at any rate inspired by the British Lion-and he remaine

shrinking but still craven-hearted." These variety of excerpts added an

overall enjoyable quality to this masterpiece of a biography, which was very

difficult to put aside until the very end because it was vivid portrait of the

former empress. Erickson masterfully described Queen Victoria’s positive and

negative traits in this well-written biography. The author showed that despite

her short and pauchy physique, Victoria was able to become a domineering figure

in England, leaving an everlasting mark on English society. Queen Victoria was a

determined, high-minded, and often ill-natured woman, yet these traits, which

seemed negative, were actually quite admirable. It was due to this obstinacy

that Victoria was able to assert here power over her empire. Queen Victoria was

the pride of England, and she was truly concerned for the well-being of her

nation because everything she did was for the love, glory, and honor of her

empire. Her Little Majesty: The Life of Queen Victoria was published in 1997 by

Simon and Schusterin, the United States of America. The author, Carollly

Erickson, is quite an accomplished and eminent biographer who has written eleven

highly acclaimed biogaphies while residing in here home in Hawaii. She is a

celebrated author whose biographies and histories have reached audiences all

around the world.