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Victoria


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Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

Created: 01/11/17

Replies: 16

Posted Jan. 11, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?


Posted Jan. 13, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
kimk

Join Date: 10/16/10

Posts: 889

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

I think in many ways she's being a typical teenager on a power trip. I think she thinks she knows best, her opinion is what matters, and she doesn't need anyone else telling her what to do. I think Britain is very lucky that she trusted Melbourne who most of the time could guide her into good decisions. So I'm not sure it's strength so much as in-born willfulness.


Posted Jan. 13, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
lorrainep

Join Date: 07/13/16

Posts: 26

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

I think she gets her courage by using Elizabeth I as a role model


Posted Jan. 13, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
laurief

Join Date: 09/08/12

Posts: 75

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

I agree with others in the fact that a strong Elizabeth was her hero. Any sheltered teenager is aiming to bust out once he or she experiences freedom - particularly with the power and reputation of a queen.


Posted Jan. 13, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
texanne

Join Date: 04/25/11

Posts: 14

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

I agree with all the previous posters. I don't think we can fully comprehend what it is like to be raised in the shadow of the throne. Knowing that at some point you will likely ascend and that the whole country is depending on you. I just feel this type of upbringing is almost outside of our comprehension.


Posted Jan. 14, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Marcia S

Join Date: 02/08/16

Posts: 505

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

I think her intelligence and resentment at previously being so controlled helped her stand up to her family. I'm not sure many who had been so isolated would have had the emotional strength and willfulness to separate themselves from such complete control. I also think she came to have a strong sense of duty toward her position and her people. Great credit should go to Melbourne for his guidance and counseling. I'm not sure she would have initially maneuvered so well without him.


Posted Jan. 16, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
JLPen77

Join Date: 02/05/16

Posts: 362

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

I agree that Elizabeth I was a strong model for her, and I think it's not just teenagers, but any intelligent person, who would develop a strong resolve to resist what was essentially a prison, the "Kensington system" as it is called, to prevent her from having any independent contact with other people not monitored by her mother and Conroy. But I think there must have been more to it than just resolve. I feel she must have felt a core of self-confidence and respect that comes from having one significant person in her youth, her governess Lehzen, who she always felt was on her side, and whom she trusted completely. Mary Pipher has written about the difference it makes for teens in troubled circumstances, who can develop resilience, survive and thrive, if they have at least one supportive person in their lives. It seems Lehzen was that person for Victoria. So I wish we had heard more about her in the novel. I also wonder what role, if any, Victoria's faith played for her, given the times she lived in.


Posted Jan. 18, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
alwaysdaddygirl's Gravatar
alwaysdaddygirl

Join Date: 09/04/16

Posts: 110

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

Aloha Kimk, Could you explain further regarding "being the typical teenager", please?


Posted Jan. 19, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
barbarao

Join Date: 10/18/12

Posts: 29

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

Besides the fact that she was a sheltered teenager, she was also a royal. Victoria might have been controlled by her mother and Conway but she was well aware of her lineage. She was schooled in the history of the monarchs preceding her but had no real knowledge of the life of her actual subjects nor the scheming inherent to the ruling class. Despite that innocence, Victoria knew being Queen was her birthright and it was that knowledge that allowed her to stand up to her family.


Posted Jan. 20, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
JLPen77

Join Date: 02/05/16

Posts: 362

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

Barbara0, that is a good point, that she knew her history and her birthright and that would empower her. When we know we have right on our side, the law on our side, that certainly helps anyone to stand in resolve against challenges and injustice.

I wish the author had developed more of Victoria's serious side; it obviously was there, notwithstanding her youth.


Posted Jan. 21, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
susanu

Join Date: 01/21/17

Posts: 14

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

I absolutely believe she would have floundered without Melbourne. I finished the book a few weeks ago so details aren't clear but I know there was more than one occasion where he helped her understand her role, kept her from making decisions that would harm her. I think she learned quickly that she wasn't the most important person in her mother's life. That gave her the strength to stand up to her.


Posted Jan. 26, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dorinned

Join Date: 10/13/14

Posts: 176

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

Fortuitously, Victoria saw through Conroy's relationship with her mother and his desire to be the advisor of her mother as regent to the "inept" queen. Lord M to the rescue as well, as he helped her see her role as queen and the work that had to be accomplished each day to fulfill her duties as queen. Victoria was fortunate in having the genetic ability to handle herself in a regal, honorable and intelligent manner.


Posted Jan. 27, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
annar

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 114

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

I agree she had a very sheltered childhood, but she did discover she would one day become the Queen. With the help of Lord Melbourne, she understood her duty and wanted very much get out from under the control of Conroy and her Mother. Elizabeth I was her role model and that helped.


Posted Jan. 28, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Lea Ann

Join Date: 04/20/11

Posts: 99

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

What a good question. I don't have a definitive answer, but I don't see Victoria getting that strength from anyone around her, with the possible exception of Lord M. I believe that he may have give her some personal strength, especially when it came time for her to propose to Albert. But, I believe some of us are born with internal strength that we draw upon when it is needed. I believe that was the case with Victoria. Rather than being cowed by her mother and Conroy, she plucked up her courage and learned she was perfectly capable of making and following her own decisions.


Posted Feb. 05, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jodig

Join Date: 06/07/15

Posts: 30

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

I was fascinated by her strength to be honest. She seemed to step right in and completely take over and do things her own way - after seemingly having led a very sheltered life up to that point. I found that whole transition almost unbelievable. She made mistakes along the way but she certainly powered ahead. I think having Lord M at her side helped. I think using ELizabeth as a role model also helped. I think in some ways, though, her mother served as a role model. Even though they were often at odds, her mother did raise her as a single parent for much of her life so had to demonstrate some strength and leadership along the way.


Posted Feb. 08, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
JulieAB

Join Date: 07/16/13

Posts: 117

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

I think she drew strength from many things really. Elizabeth definitely, but I also think her disdain for Conroy and how he controlled her mother might have fueled her. Also, Melbourne seemed to be a big influence and gave her confidence.


Posted Feb. 09, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
karenrn

Join Date: 08/29/13

Posts: 102

RE: Where do you feel Victoria gets the strength to stand up against her family and others who try to dictate her role as queen?

She knew if she didn't stand up to her family right away, her chance to reign without a regent and family control would be lost. She had a stubborn willful personality which also helped her. Melbourne helped her a lot. It would not have gone as well without him.


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