# William Ewart Gladstone — Queen Victoria character guide

> William Ewart Gladstone in Queen Victoria by Lytton Strachey.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. Gladstone, William Ewart Gladstone

**First appearance:** 0044-viii-gladstone-and-lord-beaconsfield

## Snapshot

The daemonic reformer whose five years of relentless legislation left Victoria disapproving, struggling, and very angry.

## Who they are

Gladstone arrives at the palace with a powerful majority and a conscience that answers to the Almighty rather than to the Crown. Where Disraeli charmed, Gladstone lectured; Victoria found his programmes of Irish, educational, and military reform an agitation she could neither halt nor forgive. Their mutual suspicion becomes the defining friction of her later political life, and his diary notes, without surprise, that her mind has been seriously warped.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/queen_victoria_se/chapters/i)

Mentioned as a potential democratic leader who might have rallied forces against an autocratic monarchy.

### [VIII: Gladstone and Lord Beaconsfield](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/queen_victoria_se/chapters/viii-gladstone-and-lord-beaconsfield)

Gladstone's reforms and impersonal reverence alienate Victoria, who dislikes being treated as an institution rather than a woman.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/queen_victoria_se/chapters/i)

Victoria's antagonist; his liberal reforms and formal, public-meeting style of address deeply displease her, though she ultimately complies with his policies.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/queen_victoria_se/chapters/ii)

As Prime Minister, he defends the Crown against republican attacks and motions for financial inquiry, though Victoria remains ungrateful.

### [The Faery and the Prime Minister](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/queen_victoria_se/chapters/iii)

Mentioned as the previous Prime Minister whose formal, constitutional approach contrasted with Disraeli's personal style. His Liberal government was defeated in the 1874 election, leading to Disraeli's return.

### [Old Age](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/queen_victoria_se/chapters/ix-old-age)

Mentioned as a great Minister who held power during the decline of the Crown's influence.

### [Chapter II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/queen_victoria_se/chapters/ii)

Victoria's Prime Minister whose second administration ended in failure, with the Queen openly opposing his policies.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/queen_victoria_se/chapters/iii)

Noted as one of the ministers whom Victoria, in her later years, invariably asked to sit down.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/queen_victoria_se/characters/william_gladstone
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/queen_victoria_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/queen_victoria_se/characters