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Victoria


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What do you believe are the biggest challenges that Victoria faced? How might you have dealt with those situations?

Created: 01/11/17

Replies: 10

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

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3444

What do you believe are the biggest challenges that Victoria faced? How might you have dealt with those situations?

What do you believe are the biggest challenges that Victoria faced? How might you have dealt with those situations?


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

Join Date: 10/16/10

Posts: 889

RE: What do you believe are the biggest challenges that Victoria faced? How might you have dealt with those situations?

I think her biggest challenge was simply getting up to speed on all the decision she needed to make as a ruler. I can't imagine how overwhelming it would be to be presented with a list of appointments that needed to be made and having no context in which to make them.

I think it also had to be a challenge to figure out whom to trust. I'm sure everyone wanted to have a say and thought they could influence such a young girl. I think that she was very perceptive in picking out Melbourne as her adviser, particularly since she had such a reclusive upbringing.

And then there's simply the challenge of having people take you seriously. Hard to do that when you're 18, attractive, female, and the crown keeps slipping over your eyes...


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

Join Date: 01/16/12

Posts: 136

RE: What do you believe are the biggest challenges that Victoria faced? How might you have dealt with those situations?

Victoria was unprepared to fulfill her responsibilities as queen. She was fortunate to have come under the tutelage of Melbourne who truly cared for her and fulfilled his role as mentor without having ulterior motives. It was impressive that Victoria took her position seriously and became a competent queen.


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

Join Date: 02/08/16

Posts: 505

RE: What do you believe are the biggest challenges that Victoria faced? How might you have dealt with those situations?

The fact that she had been isolated for so long left her ill-prepared to deal with all the new responsibilities. She was also young and, initially, prone to let her emotions take over (i.e. Lady Fiora incident). If not for the honorable guidance of Melbourne and her own independent streak, I'm not sure she would have become the wonderful queen she was. I have no idea how I would have handled the situations she confronted.


Posted Jan. 18, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
ylhoff

Join Date: 10/23/12

Posts: 85

RE: What do you believe are the biggest challenges that Victoria faced? How might you have dealt with those situations?

I believe her biggest hurdle was that she was a teenage girl. Not only was she sheltered, she had to deal with all the wild emotions, the various personalities, the set rules of behavior, and constant objectification most girls her age deal with ... and be the queen.

I am not sure that I wouldn't have shut down at some point, or even have gone into hiding just to quiet the many voices both on the inside and the outside.


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

Join Date: 11/09/16

Posts: 10

RE: What do you believe are the biggest challenges that Victoria faced? How might you have dealt with those situations?

It's not a good situation when you can't trust your Mom and her boyfriend and you're the new Queen. Thank goodness for Melbourne. He is so handsome in the PBS series. I wish and I'm sure even Victoria did for awhile that she could have had a relationship with him.


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

Join Date: 10/20/10

Posts: 31

RE: What do you believe are the biggest challenges that Victoria faced? How might you have dealt with those situations?

She was a woman and a very small person. At first glance she probably
wasn't taken seriously. She also hadn't really been trained to take on the responsibility of being queen..


Posted Jan. 20, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
amy-h

Join Date: 11/12/11

Posts: 2

RE: What do you believe are the biggest challenges that Victoria faced? How might you have dealt with those situations?

The biggest challenges that Victoria faced early in her reign were finding allies that she could trust completely, and overcoming her small stature and female gender. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been, being "a woman in a man's world" - and furthermore, being of small stature made her appear younger than her actual years. She had to overcome an overbearing mother and a sheltered upbringing which I think she did as well as an 18-year old woman could have in that time period. She also had to overcome her own prejudices (Conroy) in order to be an effective ruler. While she didn't handle the suspected "criminal conversation" appropriately between Conroy and Flora, the experience taught her valuable lessons and she was a better queen for it. Flora gave her the best advice when she said, "You cannot treat your subjects like dolls to be toyed with." I believe that made a significant impact on the way Victoria carried out her reign.


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

Join Date: 10/25/12

Posts: 83

RE: What do you believe are the biggest challenges that Victoria faced? How might you have dealt with those situations?

I also believe her biggest challenge was who to trust other than herself. Her size, age and gender were huge hurdles she would need to learn to overcome and use as a asset instead of a liability.


Posted Feb. 16, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
juliep

Join Date: 04/07/12

Posts: 250

RE: What do you believe are the biggest challenges that Victoria faced? How might you have dealt with those situations?

Some great answers above - I agree with all. The only thing I would add (or maybe emphasize) is her immaturity, or anyone's immaturity, at the age of 18. When I think of how immature I was at that age! And that she was queen and totally unprepared for her role. Actually, even though an education and training would have helped, she still would have been a teenager!


Posted Feb. 25, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
ritah

Join Date: 05/26/11

Posts: 80

RE: What do you believe are the biggest challenges that Victoria faced? How might you have dealt with those situations?

If this book was really accurate, then, I would have to say gender and age had to have been the biggest issues facing Victoria. She had to grow up very quickly and become informed on many issues that she had very little knowledge of. Melbourne was probably more influential than even this book portrays as he was a seasoned politician. Personally, if I put myself in the place of the male members of Parliament, I cannot imagine how I could put much trust in the judgement of an 18 year old, of either gender!


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