The Female Factor in the succession to the throne (the Royal Dynasty in Great Britain)

Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации

Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение

Высшего профессионального образования

«Владимирский государственный университет

имени Александра Григорьевича и Николая Григорьевича Столетовых»

(ВлГУ)

Зачетная работа по курсу английский язык в сфере профессиональной коммуникации.

Доклад

на тему:

«The Female Factor in the succession to the throne (the Royal Dynasty in Great Britain) ».

Выполнила:

студентка группы ИОг-111

Гусарова М.Г.

Проверила:

Датчук Наталья Юрьевна

Владимир 2014

The Female Factor in the succession to the throne (the Royal Dynasty in Great Britain).

Good morning ladies and gentlemen! Let me introduce myself. My name is Maria Gusarova. The topic of my presentation is Female Factor in the succession to the throne (the Royal Dynasty in Great Britain). I am a fourth-year student of Vladimir State University, Pedagogical Institute department of history. The purpose of my talk is to illustrate of female factor in the succession to the throne of Great Britain. I'd like to give you an overview of the three famous British Queen. My talk will be in three parts. I will take some ten minutes of your time.

Feminism - the movement aimed at the establishment, protection of political, economic, cultural and social rights of women. First requirements of equality were promoted by women during the War for Independence in the USA (1775-1783).  The first feminist was Abigail Smith Adams (1744-1818). She entered the history of feminism through her famous phrase: "We will not obey the laws, in making that we were not involved, and the power that is not of our interests." (1776).                                                                                                                                                           Today most feminists have ideas of sex equality, but sometimes there are ideas of extremist orientation. World history knows such examples, when the woman was in power in the country.                                                                                                                                        

In the main part of my lecture I would like to focus on three British Queens: Anna Stuart, Victoria and Elizabeth ІІ.                                                                                                                                                      

The first British Queen was Anna Stuart. Since 1702 she was the Queen of England and Scotland and since 1707 she was the first monarch of the United Great Britain. She was brought up in the Protestant faith. In 1683, at the insistence of the French government, Anna was married to Prince George of Denmark (1653-1708). From this marriage she had 13 children but most of them died in infancy.  Father’s conversion to Catholicism and his second marriage worsened relations with Anna.  Anna was not inclined to engage in daily activities of government.  In her reign the real power was concentrated in the hands of the aristocracy. With her political and religious beliefs Anna was close to the Tory party. The Queen considered having exclusively the prerogative of governance of the Anglican Church.                                                                                              According to her personal beliefs she was closer to the Tory Party. Anna was friendly, but very indecisive and blunt. The Queen was a woman of limited mind and she constantly listened to her advisers. First time the Duke of Marlborough and his wife Sarah had a huge impact on her.The War of the Spanish Succession, which lasted throughout the years of Anna’s reign, and brilliant victories that the Duke of Marlborough won, brought great joy to the British. Then the new favorite of the Queen became Abigail Mishem. Under her influence the queen removed a few Whigs from several ministries and handed government to Lord Bolingbroke. In 1713 he managed to conclude very advantageous peace with France. In 1707 there was another important event - the union of England and Scotland into a single state, which became known as the United Kingdom. Anna had 13 children but they died still in infancy. With her death the Stuart dynasty, who ruled England for over 100 years, ended.                                                                                                                                                        

I think you will agree with me that Victoria can be considered the most famous queen of the United Kingdom. She ruled for 64 years out of 82 years of her life. She was born on the 24th of May in 1819 in London.  She was Daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent, the successor of King William IV. Victoria was the last representative of Hanover dynasty to the English throne. Her husband was a German Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. In Victoria’s reign there was a tradition of non-interference of the crown to the political life of the country, when the monarch “reigns but does not govern”. It was the time of economic growth. During the years of her reign Victoria changed the public opinion about the monarchy.  The Queen won a victory in the Crimean War with Russia. The end of Victoria’s reign coincided with the extreme aggravation of the international situation. Inside England there were deep social changes. The labor movement became stronger; the struggle for civil rights of women began. Despite of it the reign of Queen Victoria was called the most brilliant epoch in the history of the New England. With her death   English society has entered an era of serious social unrest.

We must not forget that at the moment in England there is a woman on the throne. Since 1926 to the present time the Queen of Great Britain is Elizabeth II. The Queen of England Elizabeth II was born April 26, 1926 in London. The future Queen grew up in an atmosphere of love and care. She received a good education at home. When she was a child, she was curious, horses aroused her special interest. She keeps this fascination for many decades. When she was 13, Elizabeth met Prince Philipp. In 1947 he became her husband and received the title of Duke of Edinburgh. Elizabeth has four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. In 1952 after her father’s death there was Elizabeth’s coronation. Queen's House - Buckingham Palace is opened sometimes to the public. During the reign of Elizabeth Britain ceased to be the empire and granted independence to its colonies. The whole world knows about her love for equestrian sport: Elizabeth attends races as an owner of racehorses.Elizabeth II has only representative functions; she doesn’t virtually influence the politics of the country. Nevertheless, Elizabeth manages to maintain a high prestige of the British monarchy in the eyes of the British. Until now the Queen of England is formally the head of the British Commonwealth, which includes Australia, Canada and another 51 countries.                                                    

  To evaluate the role that the woman plays in the modern world, I had a short questionnaire among my classmates, where there was one question: "Would you like a woman to become the President of our country?"  Only 30% believe that the modern woman is ready to lead Russia, the other 70% think that it is the prerogative of men, and at the moment there is no woman who could be a leader.                                                                                                                                                                             Meanwhile, I believe that in today's society a woman plays a significant role. Since ancient times she was a homemaker. She had to wait for her husband from hunting, war or hiking, to give him warmth and comfort. However, current trends turned women into men and men into women. Currently, women are looking for a job that can provide them financially. And it determines their equality with men.                                                                                                                                           You can agree that it is important for a woman to be independent. After all, a woman feels   more confident when she has enough money to buy cosmetics, clothes, shoes and other things. The role of women in the contemporary society is defined not only by her right to work, bring up children, but also by her right directly to participate in the social life of society at all. Lovely creations opened the gates to the world. Today it is not surprising to see women in the top positions. And it does not prevent them from continuing to take care of the family and to be beautiful creatures. Many modern women do not want to do only domestic duties: bringing up children, cleaning, cooking and so on. They want to realize themselves in the modern world completely.                                                                                                                                                                   Development and personal growth becomes important for many lovely ladies. During the French Revolution, the Parisians went out demanding freedom, equality and fraternity, women's suffrage. Since then women have equal rights with men.  In my opinion, sometimes women have still to defend their rights both at work and in other institutions.                                                                            I am sure that women play a significant role in the contemporary society. And it becomes more and more important every year.

Thank you for your attention!