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1、QueenVictoriabyLyttonStracheyIntroduction-JoneJohnsonLewisStrachey's1921biographyofQueenVictoriawasunlikehismorebitingEminentVictorians(1918:FlorenceNightingalewasoneofitssubjects).Theanecdotalstyleandclearaffectionforthesubjectmakethisworkalandmarkbiography.StracheylaterwroteElizabethandEsse
2、x:ATragicHistory(1928),withanalmostFreudiananalysisofthelifeofanotherofEngland'sgreatqueens.Strachey'sviewofQueenVictoriahassignificantlyshapedpublicandscholarlyperceptionofherlifeandreign;evenifmorerecentresearchquestionssomeofhisassumptions,theworkisgoodinsightintohowVictoriahasbeenperceive
3、dandwhy.ChapterI.AntecedentsIOnNovember6,1817,diedthePrincessCharlotte,onlychildofthePrinceRegent,andheirtothecrownofEngland.Hershortlifehadhardlybeenahappyone.Bynatureimpulsive,capricious,andvehement,shehadalwayslongedforliberty;andshehadneverpossessedit.Shehadbeenbroughtupamongviolentfamily
4、quarrels,hadbeenearlyseparatedfromherdisreputableandeccentricmother,andhandedovertothecareofherdisreputableandselfishfather.Whenshewasseventeen,hedecidedtomarryherofftothePrinceofOrange;she,atfirst,acquiesced;but,suddenlyfallinginlovewithPrinceAugustusofPrussia,shedeterminedtobreakofftheengag
5、ement.Thiswasnotherfirstloveaffair,forshehadpreviouslycarriedonaclandestinecorrespondencewithaCaptainHess.PrinceAugustuswasalreadymarried,morganatically,butshedidnotknowit,andhedidnottellher.WhileshewasspinningoutthenegotiationswiththePrinceofOrange,thealliedsovereign--itwasJune,1814--arrived
6、inLondontocelebratetheirvictory.Amongthem,inthesuiteoftheEmperorofRussia,wastheyoungandhandsomePrinceLeopoldofSaxe-Coburg.HemadeseveralattemptstoattractthenoticeofthePrincess,butshe,withherheartelsewhere,paidverylittleattention.NextmonththePrinceRegent,discoveringthathisdaughterwashavingsecre
7、tmeetingswithPrinceAugustus,suddenlyappeareduponthesceneand,afterdismissingherhousehold,sentencedhertoastrictseclusioninWindsorPark."GodAlmightygrantmepatience!"sheexclaimed,fallingonherkneesinanagonyofagitation:thenshejumpedup,randowntheback