An Essay On Ivan The Great

622 Words2 Pages

Ivan IV was born on August 25, 1530 in Kolomenskoye, Moscow, Russia. He was the first of two children of Basil III and Elena Glinskaya and was named after his grandfather, Ivan the Great. Ivan’s childhood was marked by total darkness, depression and tragedy. Only two years after he was born, Basil III (his father) died and unexpected death of a boil the turned into a deadly sore. Ivan’s mother was then the head of the throne, but only ruled for six years before she was poisoned by enemies at court and died. Ivan IV became an orphan at the age of eight, raised by sets of maid servants and advisors. As competition rose in the Palace for power over Russia, Ivan witnessed many acts of brutal violence. Living in poverty, Ivan Vasilyevich observed and listened to many beatings, murders and abuse frequently. The boyars (Russian rulers at the time) alternately neglected or molested him. Desperate because he was unable to punish his tormentors, Ivan started to torment animals, tearing feathers off birds, piercing their eyes and opening their bodies. At age seventeen, Ivan made himself the fir...

Show More
Related

  • Compare And Contrast Ivan And Charles

    1390 Words  | 3 Pages

    Prepubescence is an essential period in a child’s development. A person’s environment can alter their personality and affect them in ways that will remain throughout their lives. With Ivan and Charles, it is evident that the conditions they aged in factored into their frame of mind. Ivan, specifically, experienced multiple challenging incidents in his childhood. For example, when Ivan was three years old his father, Vasilly III, fell ill and passed away on February 4, 1533. His father recognized the futility of having an infant king rule a country, so he left a small council of nobles to rule. Similar to Ivan, Charles also had the inconvenience of inheriting the throne too early. Charles was only twelve years old when he was appointed king in September 1380, but he was not allowed to rule at first. In the early years of his reign his father arranged for his four uncles to rule until he was of age. To be entrusted with so much power at such a young age can be very stressful and the lose of a father figure proved to be traumatic in their later years. After Charles’ coronation, documents ceased to mention him until he finally took the throne around age 20. Ivan, on the other hand, devoted his life to education in his early years allowing him to document his experiences. Five years after his father passed away, Ivan’s mother was poisoned and killed. This left him, and his brother Iuri, in the care of the

    Read More

  • Essay On Napoleon's Invasion Of Russia

    685 Words  | 2 Pages

    One last mistake that most people could call Napoleon’s greatest, would be his Invasion of Russia. When Czar Alexander I stopped complying with Napoleon’s demands with the Continental System, put heavy taxes on French luxury products, and refusing to let Napoleon marry a sister of his, Napoleon thought that it was time to put Russia back in his place. With this idea in place, Napoleon gathered a huge amount of troops from all around Europe, which first entered Russia on June 24, 1812. A quote from Sutherland states that “It was the most diverse European army since the Crusades”. History experts expect that at least 450,000 Grand Armée soldiers and maybe even 650,000 ended up crossing the Niemen River to fight the Russians on the other side (approx. 200,000). Napoleon

    Read More

  • Czar Nicholas II's Abuse Of Power

    128 Words  | 1 Pages

    I can use this source in my research project to defend why Czar Nicholas II is innocent to the abuse of power of the office of Czar.It reveales to me that even thouch Nicholas struggled with being the new Czar he truly did a lot for Russia to improve in learning abilities.Above all else, Nicholas loved Russia first and then his family; He thought the fate of the two was inseparable. No one knew the fault of the Romanov Dynasty better than him. Czar Nicholas sincerely felt his responsibility for the country, He thought that his destiny was within the country he ruled. I think it was really difficult for him but it was the only way to admit his mistakes and to say "sorry" to his people.

    Read More

  • Ivan the Terrible, the First Tzar of Russia

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ivan grew up living in poverty and he saw many things including murders, beatings, and verbal and physical abuse regularly. He was also neglected, beaten, and molested by the boyars often, leaving him and his brother with almost nothing. However, Ivan could not take out his terrible frustrations on his tormentors, so instead he would take them out on defenseless animals. For example, when he got angry he tore off the feathers on birds, pierced their eyes, and slit open their bodies. Ivan waited many years until he was crowned the first tsar of Russia on January 16, 1547 at age 16. During the beginning of his reign, he gave some powers of the government to his two uncles, however they misused this power and Ivan took it way....

    Read More

  • Dictatorship: A Russian Tradition

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before the word for the usual brutality of a leader came about, called Communism, Ivan IV was born on August 25,1530. His abnormal behavior started to show after the death of his parents; both deaths occured before he hit the early age of 9. Ivan bore witness to a lot of horrible things like murder and beatings of people who didn't comply to the Boyars requests. He was molested along with his deaf-mute brother, Yuri. Ivan took out his anger on animals by "ripping hair and feathers off, piercing the eyes, and slitting open their bodies. When he became ruler, he sent 100,000 troops to beseige the Tartar and not too long later he launches an attack on Novgorod. His Oprichniki rode around wearing black and on black horses abducting priests and even murdering them in front of their congregation. He turned on his daughter-in-law and attacked her because she was "immodestly dressed" and caused her to miscarry her baby. When his son stood up to protect her, Ivan killed him. His son was the heir to the throne and now Ivan didn't have an heir. Finally his reign of terror ended when he had a heart a attack while waiting to play chess.

    Read More

  • Ivan Chetvyorty: Ivan The Terrible's Reign Of Terror

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ivan Chetvyorty Vasilyevich or Ivan the Terrible, was born on August 25, 1530, in the Grand Duchy of Muscovy, Russia. He became the first tsar of all Russia and he was said to be sensitive and intelligent, but Ivan agreeably had a complex personality. After being completely orphaned at age 8 Ivan’s personality became hateful and erratic. He was neglected by the people that watched over him, ensuing his parent’s death. In adulthood, he earned the nickname “Grozny,” which means “formidable or sparking terror.”

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Death Of Ivan

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the things that affected Ivan’s death was the feeling of lioness because none of his family members cared about him. He became hopeless and stopped fighting the illness he had. Why and how he died isn’t clearly given in the story, but from one’s assumption, he might have had cancer.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Louis Xiv And The Enlightenment

    466 Words  | 1 Pages

    Ivan the Terrible was the absolute monarch, or Czar, of Russia and was not always terrible. He was very in love with his wife who was killed by the boyars, or nobles, of Russia. He took away political power from these boyars as an act of revenge. Then, he redistributed the land of the boyars to other nobles he actually trusted. He began a police force to keep tabs on the loyalty of his citizens, and to force his agenda on the people. This harsh behavior toward his citizens caused Ivan the Terrible to contribute to the start of the

    Read More

  • Psychopathic Characteristics Of Ivan The Terrible

    182 Words  | 1 Pages

    Ivan IV experienced a lonely and abusive life as a kid that most likely influenced him to be such a cruel tyrant. Ivan enjoyed killing people and animals as well as drinking heavily and he began to live this lifestyle at a very young age. Ivan became the Tsar of all Russians and expanded Russia into a massive and powerful territory that only he was capable of doing. Ivan was known for his bad temper and abnormal personality and it’s what caused him to be feared and responsible for his nickname, Ivan the terrible. Ivan was filled with rage and it drove him to execute thousands of people including his own son. The Russian Tsar was clearly not a mentally stable individual, “He had some psychopathic characteristics; his quick mood shifts, unreliability,

    Read More

  • The Death of Ivan Ilyich

    1577 Words  | 4 Pages

    In his novella, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Leo Tolstoy satirizes the isolation and materialism of Russian society and suggests that its desensitized existence overlooks the true meaning of life—compassion. Ivan had attained everything that society deemed important in life: a high social position, a powerful job, and money. Marriage developed out of necessity rather than love: “He only required of it those conveniences—dinner at home, housewife, and bed—which it could give him” (17). Later, he purchased a magnificent house, as society dictated, and attempted to fill it with ostentatious antiquities solely available to the wealthy. However, “In reality it was just what is usually seen in the houses of people of moderate means who want to appear rich, and therefore succeed only in resembling others like themselves” (22). Through intense characterizations by the detached and omniscient narrator, Tolstoy reveals the flaws of this deeply superficial society. Although Ivan has flourished under the standards of society, he fails to establish any sort of connection with another human being on this earth. Tragically, only his fatal illness can allow him to confront his own death and reevaluate his life. He finally understands, in his final breath, that “All you have lived for and still live for is falsehood and deception, hiding life and death from you” (69).

    Read More

  • The Theme of The Death of Ivan Ilych

    613 Words  | 2 Pages

    This point of the story is indirectly brought out in the very beginning when Ivan's colleagues, and supposedly his friends, learn of his death. The narrator states in paragraph 5:

    Read More

  • Ivan The Great Turnip

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Ivan’s “Good period”, he revised the law code of 1497 and came out with the law code of 1550. He is also the first ruler in Russia to establish the Zemskii Sobor a council which act like a ‘parliament’. Furthermore, Ivan won the Livonian war which gave him a port on the Baltic

    Read More

  • The Death Of Ivan Ilyich

    887 Words  | 2 Pages

    Understanding oneself is as universal question for humanity as why we are here and where do we come from. This universal question is so prominent that it even underpins itself deep into literature itself, with many novels featuring characters on personal quests of self-realization. These quests for self-realization are portrayed in numerous forms. In Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe, Crusoe takes off on an overseas journey in order to discover himself. In Leo Tolstoy’s novel The death of Ivan Ilyich, Ivan Ilyich’s quest for self-realization begins initially as an attempt to achieve a high social status, wealth, and other aspects of life that society deems admirable. In Albert Camus’s the fall, Jean-Baptiste Clamence believes he has gained

    Read More

  • Materialism In The Death Of Ivan Ilych By Tolstoy

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ivan’s materialistic view of the world is evident throughout the book. His life is about achieving a high up status in the worlds view. Ivan’s sole purpose for marrying his wife is for a certain status and throughout most of the book he acts like she is nuisance in his life and ignores her and his son and daughter. His late night games of bridge had a higher importance to him then coming home to enjoy his family. Close to the end he realizes that he has been living the wrong life that when he dies no one will miss him or cares just like the way people reacted in the first chapter they were unsympathetic towards his death. He sees that he has been living an artificial life and should have spent more time with his family and he should have been loving and he should have had created greater meaning for his life, which Gerasim shows him as he takes care of him in his last

    Read More

  • Life in The Death of Ivan Ilyich

    1135 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich, the story begins with the death of the title character, Ivan Ilyich Golovin.  Ivan's closest friends discover his death in the obituary column in chapter one, but it is not until chapter two that we encounter our hero.  Despite this opening, while Ilyich is physically alive during most of the story's action he only becomes spiritually alive a few moments before his death.

    Read More

More about An Essay On Ivan The Great

Open Document