Being an Imperial Consort

Abstract

Within the structure of an imperial court, the empress played a key role, but one which was a challenge to negotiate for the twenty empresses between 1804 and 1947. They had to fulfil a biological imperative whose success was out of their hands while conforming to expectations of how they should act that often ran counter to their own individuality. In the latter part of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth, they were also playing their role at a time when the place of women in society was up for debate, while at the same time they themselves were subject to increasing exposure in the developing mass media. The chapter discusses the empresses in relation to motherhood, beauty and fashion, charitable activities, and political involvement, as well as picking out some empresses for special discussion.