Queen Victoria’s life.

Queen Victoria’s life.

  Queen Victoria was born on May 1819 and died on January 1901. On the one hand, her life was filled with blissful and satisfactory experiences, such as her childhood, her accession to the throne and her marriage. On the other hand, there existed unhappy and depressing events, such as several attempts to assassinate her and later, her husband’s death. Queen Victoria was the first known carrier of haemophilia, an illness that later on was known as the “Royal disease”. Her reign of 63 years and 7 months was the longest of any female monarch in history and it was recognized as the Victorian Era.

  Queen Victoria was born Alexandrina Victoria, in London. She was the only child of Edward, George III’s fourth son, and Victoria Maria Louisa of Saxe-Coburg who was sister of King Leopold of the Belgians. It is said that as a child, she was warm hearted and lively and that she had a gift for drawing and painting. While she was educated at the Royal Palace by a governess, she also developed a passion for journal writing. As her father died when she was eight months, her mother became a dominant influence in her life.

  After her father’s death and considering that her three surviving uncles, who were ahead of her in succession, had no legitimate heirs who had survived childhood, she became the heir apparent. Consequently, when King William IV died in 1837, Victoria became queen at the age of 18. Lord Melbourne was Victoria’s political advisor and confidant and train her in the complexities of being a constitutional monarch. During Victoria’s reign there was great cultural expansion, advances in industry, science and communications, and also the construction of railways and the London Underground. Victoria was able to show that a monarch who had an extraordinary level of prestige and also who was prepared to master the details of political life could make use of an important influence. This was clearly demonstrated by the mediation between the Commons and the Lords. She reigned up to her death but, in 1897, Victoria had written instructions for her funeral, which was to be military as befitting a soldier’s daughter, the head of the army and to wear white instead of black.

  She married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840. As the British public did not warm up to the German Prince, he was excluded from holding any official political position, at first. Even though the couple passed through tempestuous periods, they were intensely devoted to each other and shared a strong enough affection to have nine children between 1840 and 1857. Most of their children married into other Royal families of Europe. Albert took an enthusiastic interest in the arts, science and industry and the project for which he is best kept in mind was the Great Exhibition of 1851.

  Queen Victoria suffered at least six serious assassination attempts and most of them were while she was riding in a carriage. Edward Oxford fired two shots at her carriage while she was riding in London. Although he was accused of high treason, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. In 1842, John Francis made two attempts to shoot the queen and the same year, John William Bean tried to fire a gun loaded with paper and tobacco at her, but the charge was insufficient. In 1849, another carriage attack was made by William Hamilton and in 1850, the ex-army officer Robert Pate hit the queen with his cane. Finally, in 1882, Roderick Maclean shot at Victoria with a pistol while she was leaving the Windsor train station but, as he was found to be insane, he was sentenced to life in an asylum. Every time that an assassination attempt came round, Victoria’s popularity ascended among the British public.

  In March 1861, Victoria’s mother died with Victoria at her side and as she was heart-broken, Albert took on most of her duties, despite being ill himself with a chronic stomach trouble. By the beginning of December 1861, Albert was very unwell and he was diagnosed with typhoid fever. As a result, by the middle of December, Albert died and Victoria was devastated. She had lost a devoted husband and her principal trusted adviser in affairs of state, so she decided to wear black for the rest of her life and she also avoided public appearances and went into a 25-year seclusion.

  Research involving DNA analysis on the bones of the last Russian royal family, the Romanovs, revealed that Victoria’s descendants suffered from a subtype of the disorder called haemophilia B, which is a blood clotting disorder caused by a mutation on the X chromosome and that can be passed along the maternal line within families and in which women are usually carriers but men are more likely to develop it. As Victoria’s descendants married into royal families throughout Europe, the disease spread from Britain to the nobility of Germany, Russia and Spain. For example, Victoria’s son, Leopold, died from blood loss; her grandson Friedrich bled to death at the age of two, and Leopold and Maurice, also Victoria’s grandsons, died of the affliction in their early 30s.

  To conclude and considering what has been developed all along this paper, it is evident that Queen Victoria not only had a gift for drawing and painting, as in her childhood, but also for reigning her country. Therefore, Great Britain experienced exceptional expansion in industry, building railways, science and communication among others. She had the good fortune to marry to Prince Albert who was a loving husband and helped her in the difficulties of being a constitutional monarch. Even though she was devastated after Albert’s death, she continued to reign the country up to her death but she kept in seclusion. She also managed to carry on her duties despite suffering more than a few assassination attempts. As regards the affliction that became known as the Royal disease, haemophilia appears to be extinct in the European royal lines now. Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901 and her orders were followed so she was buried at Windsor beside Prince Albert, in the Frogmore Royal Mausoleum. Subsequently, the 19th century was known as Victorian Era because of Queen Victoria’s long reign and the unforgettable stamp it and her persona placed on the country.

Poster on women's role during the Industrial Revolution (Padlet).

Created with Padlet

Dreams and nightmares throughout "Frankenstein" and the Industrial Revolution.

Dreams and nightmares throughout “Frankenstein” and the Industrial Revolution.

        Dreams and nightmares are two important themes all along Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein. Dreams are presented as hope, ambition and desire while nightmares are performed as consequences of these feelings. Victor Frankenstein as well as Robert Walton’s characters made clear reference to these two themes for they, both wanted to explore things in different ways, beyond human limits. These feelings that are mentioned above, could also be associated with the circumstances in which people lived and worked during the period of the Industrial Revolution.

        On the one hand, one of the phenomena that most attracted Victor’s attention was the structure of the human being, so he worked hard to discover the secret of life and immortality. After spending several months moulding a creature out of old body parts, he brought his creation to life in the secrecy of his apartment. Although Victor dreamed of creating a new race of perfect beings, as soon as he caught sight of his creation he felt horrified because he realized that he had built a monstrosity. He also became conscious that his ambitious had taken him beyond any human belief and that his dreams  became nightmares. Furthermore, when the monster murdered his brother, his best friend and his wife, he was overcome by deep remorse, guilt and vengeance. After those events, doctor Frankenstein set off in pursuit of the creature for he wanted to end up with his grotesque creation. It was during that search that Victor and Robert met for the first time and the doctor was able to tell Walton about what he had created.

        On the other hand, Robert Walton, who played an important role in the novel for Victor’s story is known through his letters to his sister, made an attempt to exceed earlier human explorations, by endeavouring to reach the North Pole. Even though Robert had similar desires to doctor Frankenstein, once he heard Victor’s narrative about the creature, he understood that the ruthless pursuit of knowledge was really dangerous. After Victor's death, Walton had the opportunity to meet and to talk with the creature because he found it weeping next to Victor’s dead body. At that moment, he found himself dangerously trapped between sheets of ice so he decided not to continue with his mission and return home because he had learnt from Victor’s example how destructive the thirst for knowledge could be. Besides, Robert was not as obsessive as Victor to endanger his life and he was not brave enough to let his passion to drive him.

        Dreams and nightmares were also related to the Industrial Revolution, more specifically to the working and living conditions of people. Even though this revolution brought a diversity of factory-produced goods improving the standard of living for the middle and upper social classes, the poor and working classes continued being in a difficult situation. That is to say apart from the fact that wages were low, the working conditions were extremely dangerous since workers were exposed to the moving parts of the machines while they were working. And what was worse, children worked between these hazardous machines since they were small enough and could fit between them. In addition, workers labored more than twelve hours a day in hot and physically exhausting places and lived in slums where roads were narrow and sewage works and washing facilities did not exist. As the atmosphere in which they lived was so polluted, diseases quickly reached and covered many of those areas, causing cholera and different types of fever.

        Taking into account the above-mentioned references to dreams and nightmares, it is well-defined that Victor enjoyed his dream and ambition of bringing his creation to life. However, after that, he painfully suffered the dreadful consequences of his monstrous creation until the end of his life. Similarly, Robert hoped to go to faraway places where no human being had ever gone, but after Victor told him the story of the creature he wisely came to the decision of returning to his home so that his dream did not turn into nightmare. And, it was also illustrated that dreams as well as nightmares were connected with the ways in which people live and work during the Industrial Revolution. Through this new technology that factories had, the middle and upper social classes fulfilled their ambition to increase their standard of living. But the poor and the working classes could not achieve the same hope, since they had to work lots of hours a day under dangerous conditions to obtain really low wages. They also had to live in inadequate and overcrowded houses under polluted and unsanitary conditions running the risk of catching any contagious disease.

FRENCH REVOLUTION

French Revolution

        Towards the end of the eighteenth century, the differences between the three estates, an impoverished government, and a king who could not control the policy of his country ended in what it is known as the French Revolution. Apart from the discrepancies that broke up the estates, there existed other difficulties which made the matter worse. Meanwhile, fighting overpriced wars led France going bankrupt and when the Estates General met, in 1789, it was certainly evident that King Louis XVI did not have control of the meeting because he did not expound the representatives on any proposals for discussion. In addition to what it is enlightened above, as soon as King Louis was guillotined, it set up the reign of terror under the Jacobins government.

As regards the inequitable division of social classes, the French population was divided into three states. The first state was constituted by the clergy, the second state consisted of the nobility and the third one contained the peasants, yeoman farmers, urban workers, middle class shopkeepers and prosperous businessmen, that was nearly 90 % of the population of France. Considerable differences separated the clergy and the nobility from the rest of the populace. On the one hand, the members of the third state were forced to do military service, they could not hunt or fish on nobles’ estates, they had to pay taxes to their lord, the king and the church and they also had to pay for the use of the lord’s mill, oven and winepress. On the other hand, nobles and clergy lived in luxurious palaces, they did not have to do military service, they had practically complete authority over the peasants and what is more, they were exempted from paying any taxes.

By 1787, the nobility, the clergy and King Louis XVI with his family were living in extravagant palaces and chateaux and they were also spending a lot of money in sumptuousness. In contrast, the peasants and the farmers were starving as a consequence of three very bad harvests which led them having smaller incomes. Meanwhile food prices were increasing extremely, so they were unemployed and unable to procure food or jobs. Besides that, the French government was insolvent because France had spent a great deal of money in wars. Then, the King looked for the nobility to support him restructure the tax system for he wanted them to start paying some of the taxes but, they rejected to do so. When the Estates General met in 1789, the king expected that the representatives of the three estates would approve new taxes, the nobles and the clergy looked forward to maintaining their privileged lifestyles and the peasants yearned for solutions to their problems.

King Louis XVI was a decent family man who was more connected with his relatives than the political crisis he was dealing with during the events of 1789-1790. Although he was an absolute monarch, which meant that he had control over the policy of France, he did not know what exactly he should do when the National Assembly set up. During that period mentioned above, King Louis provided money for the nobles who were in exile and living in other European monarchs. He also wrote to the Kings of Prussia, Spain and Sweden as well as the emperors of Austria and Russia asking for an alliance to put down the revolution, and what is more, he and his family made an attempt to escape to Montmedy but they were apprehended and brought back to Paris where they stayed imprisoned. Finally, when the constitution was proclaimed in 1791, Louis signed an oath of loyalty.

After King Louis was executed in 1793, it began a period known as “The Terror” in which thousands of people who were suspicious of anti-revolutionary movements were sent to the guillotine. When the Jacobins stated that “Terror is the order of the day”, several regions of France rose up against the new Jacobin government. As the solidity of France was really threatened, the Convention set up a Committee of Public Safety that was led by Maximilien Robespierre. As a consequence of the fear of traitors that grew in France after the revolution, the Committee took as an emergency measure the creation of revolutionary tribunals which changed the already existing law. This law declared that people suspected of treason should be locked and there was no necessity of witnesses because any kind of evidence was enough to condemn enemies. It also proclaimed that any offences under that law would be penalized with death. By mid-1794, the terror had died out and Robespierre found himself at the centre of the blame for the Reign of terror and in the end he faced the guillotine as thousands of people.

Taking into account what it has been described all along this paper, it is clear enough that the unfair division of the social classes in which the peasants were the most affected in all senses and the dreadful decisions that King Louis took as an absolute monarch during the events of 1789-1791 led the way to the French Revolution. It is also evident that the period that followed Louis execution, which is known as the Reign of Terror, combined with the mentioned events, marked the beginning of a new era for France.

Opposite and Parallel Dualism in the novel A Tale of Two Cities.

Opposite and Parallel Dualism in the novel A Tale of Two Cities.

        Duality is one of the main themes developed in the novel “A Tale of Two Cities”. This technique of combining two different things that Dickens uses in his narrative papers not only to describe double oppositions, such as the conditions in which England and France are in 1775 and the expression of Madame Defarge and Lucie Manette’s personality but also to disclose hidden parallels. An example of this is the resemblance between the two central male characters, Darnay and Carton.

        The writer begins the narrative by writing “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness…” for the reason that he makes a literate comparison of a dual antagonism between England and France in 1775. On the one hand, in England, people concern of religious predictions, popular paranormal phenomena and the messages that a colony of British citizens in America has sent to King George III. On the other hand, in France, the citizens observe that the members of the nobility are spending disproportionate amounts of money and that there is extreme violence all around them which is the trend towards the anticipation of the creation of the guillotine.

        As regard the ladies’ personality, it is clear enough all along the novel that Lucie Manette is a model of compassion and her love has the power to transform all around her, for instance, this powerful love makes his father, Doctor Manette, to be recalled to life and moreover it is capable of converting Sydney Carton, who is a jackal, into a hero. It is also well-defined to the readers that Madame Defarge represents the chaos of the French Revolution for she is a heartless insurgent who spends most of the narration knitting a register of each person who should die for the revolutionary cause. According to Dickens, Madame Defarge’s coldblooded behaviour reflects the result from the oppression and personal tragedy that she has suffered in her youth by the members of the aristocracy, specifically by the Marquis Evrémondes, who is Charles Darnay’s uncle. In spite of this, the author supports her vengefulness attitude by justifying that the aristocracy’s oppression has made an oppressor of herself.

Besides the examples of dualism that are explained above, the novelist shows off a dichotomy between Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. While Darnay is a French aristocrat by birth who prefers to live in England because he does not tolerate the cruel injustices of the French social system and who is a man of honour, respect and courage conforming the archetype of the hero, Carton appears as an insolent, lazy, indifferent and alcoholic barrister who has no real prospects in life and does not pursuit anything and who sees Darnay as a figure that reminds him of what he could have been but has failed to become. Nevertheless, by the end of the novel, Sydney converts himself from a good-for-nothing into a hero when he decides to sacrifice his life to save Darnay who is sentenced to die by the guillotine.
To sum up and taking into account the comparisons and the contrasts between some of the characters of the novel and between England and France from 1775 to 1793, which are presented all along this essay, it is evident that dual oppositions as well as parallel dualism is one of the main themes described in A tale of Two Cities.

Britain under rule of a mentally diseased King

Britain under rule of a mentally diseased King.

King George III’s insanity as well as the relationship that he had with his son, the Prince of Wales, were the main themes in the film “The madness of the King”. All along the film, we could see all the treatments he had received and how close he was to lose the throne by his son, who was an ambitious man.

According to the film, the King’s illness started in 1788, after the American colonies have thrown off George's rule. As the madness was increasing, the King’s physician, Dr. Pepys analyzed the King's stool and urine because he believed that body wastes could contain clue to George’s disease. He suffered from Porphyria that is a genetic blood disorder and which symptoms include aches and pains, as well as blue urine. Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales’ personal physician, Dr. Warren, also tried to cure George’s mental disorder. However, who saved the king, at least for a time, was a man named Willis, who had revolutionary ideas about mental health. He tried to cure the insane through behavior modification, and he began the King’s restoration. Willis tried to break the king down so he could build him up again, but the king resisted. Dr. Willis made good progress with the King, managing to bring him from his raving and violent state of mind back to a level of normality. We felt that the first doctor who treated him caused more damage than cure, because he used harder methods over the king. 
In the meantime, his son conspired to have his father declared mad, so he could become Prince Regent, although he had a secret marriage to Maria Fitzherbert, who was a Catholic woman. This was illegal because they did not have the King’s consent. He also associated with the King’s political opposition, led by Charles James Fox. Because of that, the government was determined to keep him out but the both parties in the Parliament disagreed over the regency. However, the Prime Minister William Pitt and the Queen Charlotte were determined to protect the throne. The drama culminated when the King came back to the throne and his son had to kneel upon him. We believed that while the Prince wanted to become King of England, he did not respect George’s rules and moreover he did not take into account his father health.

In conclusion, despite his illness, George III was a dedicated and diligent king, and won the respect of his politicians. In fact, it was said that his illness certainly did not stop George III from being a successful king. So, taking into account what we have mentioned before, it is clear that having a mentally disorder was not an impediment for the King to have a good reign over a country

Exelearning activities.

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George I. (Military Aspect)

https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/y9jZoyrA23O0QE

George III - Mind Map

George III MindMap

Debate on Scotland's Independency video

Two views of the Glorious Revolution.

Compare and contrast the two views of the Glorious Revolution: group 9

The Glorious Revolution

    The BBC as well as the Parliament's website told us about the incidents that occurred during the period of The Glorious Revolution (1688-1689), and although both sites narrated the same event, it is very clear that they had different points of view about it. For instance, the BBC site revealed that the episodes in the revolution were bloodless but by force and with much loss of life most of all in Ireland and Scotland while for the Parliament site the Glorious Revolution was an expression used to describe the peaceful way in which the Parliament proclaimed its rights over the monarchy.

    As regards James' exile, both websites agreed about his successful escape for France, but only  the BBC site mentioned that when he made his first attempt to escape he was captured by Kent Fishermen near Sheerness and as it was an inconvenient for William, he finally allowed James II to flee the country.

    One topic in which both sites came to an agreement and explained it in a similar way is the fact that James II ordered Anglican clergy to read the declaration of indulgence from the pulpit to their congregations but the Archbishop of Canterbury and six other bishops refused to do it. Their refusal to read it brought as a consequence  the arrest of the seven bishops who were later sent to the Tower to wait for the trial. Nearly a month later, the Seven Bishops were acquitted by jury and enormous crowds enjoyed themselves in the streets, destroying and  attacking Catholic establishments.

Although the two articles stated that James wanted to secure his religious objectives using his powers and through the test case of Godden vs. Hales, the judges declared that James II could dispense with the Test Acts without the consent of Parliament, which gave him the opportunity to introduce Roman Catholics in his privy council; and, that in 1687 the King made public a declaration of indulgence which suspended penal laws against Catholics and granted toleration to some Protestant dissenters, the Parliament article explained the events in a larger and detailed way.

        Regarding the Declaration of Rights, later enshrined in law as the Bill of Rights, which established several constitutional principles, the Parliament site named and also gave details about each of them whereas the BBC site just named a few of them, for example the illegality of prerogative suspending and dispensing powers, the prohibition of taxation without parliamentary consent and the need for regular parliaments.

        To conclude this essay we will point out that after reading the  articles,  it was evident that both sides agreed and explained nearly the same series of issues about the events, but they were connected with other episodes, such as the periods before and after the Glorious Revolution, they had different opinions and points of view and consequently  they showed them in diverse manners.

We strongly believe that whenever we want to know something about a specific period in history we should  look for information from different sources so as to get various versions and this way we will be able to  analyse each  of them  and come to a more certain conclusion about the historic period in which we are interested in.

Great!!! Publish!!!!

Spanish Succession War chart

First Class

Glorious Revolution