Monuments of Empire: Allegory/Counter-Discourse/ Post-Colonial Writing

On Tuesday, 22 June 1897, Britain's loyal subjects — at Home, in the Dominions, and in the Colonies — celebrated in song and spectacle the Diamond Jubilee of Victoria's reign. It was not only the Queen's longevity they were celebrating, not only the remarkable progress of Western technology and science over the past sixty years, but also, and most importantly, the spread of the British Empire itself to the point where it now subsumed one quarter of the world's entire population. 'From my heart,' ran the Queen's message, telegraphed across the globe, 'I thank my beloved people. May God bless them.''