Book contents
- The Right to Rule and the Rights of Women
- The Right to Rule and the Rights of Women
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 The Radicalism of Female Rule in Eighteenth-Century Britain
- 2 “An Argument of a Very Popular Character”
- 3 Rethinking the “Right to Rule” in Victorian Britain
- 4 The Anti-Suffragists’ Queen
- 5 “No More Fitting Commemoration”?
- Conclusion
- A Note on Sources
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - Rethinking the “Right to Rule” in Victorian Britain
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2019
Book contents
- The Right to Rule and the Rights of Women
- The Right to Rule and the Rights of Women
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 The Radicalism of Female Rule in Eighteenth-Century Britain
- 2 “An Argument of a Very Popular Character”
- 3 Rethinking the “Right to Rule” in Victorian Britain
- 4 The Anti-Suffragists’ Queen
- 5 “No More Fitting Commemoration”?
- Conclusion
- A Note on Sources
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter charts social conservatives' efforts to provide new historical and philosophical foundations for female sovereignty -- ones in keeping with, rather than at odds with, a patriarchal state. They did this by rewriting the histories of past English queens in order to downplay their agency and leadership. They also did this by valorizing particular Victorian statesmen who they insisted were doing Victoria's work on her behalf. Finally, they did this by stressing the decorative, moral, and fundamentally apolitical role of the female sovereign within the modern British nation-state.
Keywords
- Type
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- Information
- The Right to Rule and the Rights of WomenQueen Victoria and the Women's Movement, pp. 91 - 122Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019