Queen Victoria's Library: The Place of Reading and Writing in Victoria's Political Education, Self-Improvement and Self-Curation

The record of Queen Victoria’s reading is certainly one of the most thorough and remarkable of any nineteenth-century individual; due to her position as monarch, her meticulous documentation, and the length of her life. Despite this, and the fact that she is one of the most written-about historical women, this thesis is the first comprehensive study focused on her reading. This thesis argues that Victoria’s reading was one of the most notable and constant features of her life, and that it both reflected and shaped the events surrounding it. It was an active pursuit that underpinned and produced her political opinions, supported her in her grief, and was a tool she expertly wielded in her self-curation. By centring reading in the study of Queen Victoria, examining both what she read and how she read, this thesis elucidates its role in her agency, relationships, self-improvement, interaction with the world through literature, the dynamics of her literary tastes, and her own relationship to Britain’s ever-developing literary culture. Through an analysis of previously unused material, such as Victoria’s annotated books and her childhood reading journal, as well as a thorough interpretation as her diaries and letters, this thesis makes an original contribution to scholarly understandings of both Queen Victoria and the practices of women readers in the nineteenth century. The more studied aspects of Victoria’s life, her almost mythological childhood and her ubiquitous periods of mourning, are scrutinised and reinterpreted through an exploration of her reading, highlighting her often overlooked agency and the exceptional nature of her intellectual self-fashioning. This thesis presents an unexplored perspective of Queen Victoria, who was in many ways – but not in every way – a remarkable reader<p></p>

Author dc:creator

• Gabrielle Fields (21041447)

• Queen Victoria
• Reading
• 19th century
• women's reading
• royal reading

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved
• Open Access after 2027-02-01

Identifier

10779/exe.31223671.v1

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:figshare.com:article/31223671