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| Plot Summary of Elizabeth: Grand Duchess of Russia |
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"Elisabeth is born the daughter of a Grand Duke (of Hesse) and one of Queen Victoria's daughters. When she is 16, her mother dies and her children spend much time in England after that, being raised by their grandmother QV. When Elisabeth ("Ella") is introduced to society, she has a number of suitors including the future Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany (such an alliance might have avoided WWI or at least helped) but chooses to marry for love. She ends up with Grand Duke Serge of Russia, who is the son of Tsar Alexander II.
She loves her husband, but soon finds that he is not the man who she thought he was. For one, he turns out to be homosexual and this puts a strain on their marriage as she wants children (she never has any but Serge and Ella take in their niece Maria Pavlovna "the Younger" and Dmitri Pavlovich and raise them). She wanders in life, not really sure of her purpose. Her husband is assasinated in 1905, after 20 years of marriage, and she realizes that her calling was never to be married in the first place. She then starts an order of nuns devoted to caring for the sick and hurt.
During World War I, she helps tend many sick. People love her but do not like the tsar. Right before the revolution, she goes to her sister the Tsarina Alexandra to plead with her to stop taking advice from Grigory Rasputin. Alexandra holds her ground and the sisters part in tears, never to be seen again. On July 17, Alexandra, her husband, and her children are shot in a cellar in Ekaterinburg. The next day, Ella and some of her loyal friends are thrown into a pit. Except for one, they survive the fall and die a slow death of starvation. When her body is exhumed months later, it has not decayed at all. "
Maggie, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Elizabeth: Grand Duchess of Russia |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Royalty bio
Yes
Period of greatest activity?
- 1800's
Subject of Biography
Gender
- Female
Biography of famous person?
Yes
Ethnicity
- White
Nationality
- Russian
How sensitive is this person?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other people
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 2 (a little)
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
- Germany
- Russian
City?
Yes
City:
- wealthy
Misc setting
- Fancy Mansion
Century:
- 19th century
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Book makes you feel?
- spiritual
Writer's slant towards subject:
- very favorable
Story of entire life, or part?
- story of nearly entire life
Pictures/Illustrations?
- More 6-10 B&W
How much dialogue in bio?
- little dialog
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life?
- 51%-75% of book
How much is philosophy rather than life story?
- 0-25% of book
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Click here for more information about this book
Hugo Mager Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Maggie
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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