Nineteenth-century Britain was a dominant empire throughout the world. Despite the loss of a major colonial force, the United States, the country continues to dominate world trade, allowing a sense of pride to be established in the hearts of the English. As exposed in Virginia Woolf's book, Mrs Dalloway, the mentality of the English was one of great superiority. Due to the success of the British Empire's colonial expeditions, many British citizens felt as if their country was the greatest and most advanced in the world, creating a sense of superficial, self-centered pride, reflected in Clarissa's character. This pride, however, had many dangerous side effects throughout history. British imperialism, combined with unnecessary pride, caused many racial issues for England that would be fought over for centuries to come. British interest in India grew as the need for new world markets and trading ports expanded. Many Western Europeans longed for the distant goods of the East, but did not care about the high prices that international trade had to offer. Instead of allowing the creation of a global trade, many countries have developed their own system and collaborations for the importation of rare goods. One of these was the East India Company. However, in 1858, England, no longer willing to pay the additional expenses charged by the Company, established colonial control over India (Kaul, BBC News). This exchange of European control sparked a two-year “Great Rebellion.” attempt made by Indians to put an end to the Raj – or British imperialism. With the help of Indian princes and many other local leaders, the British controlled over 300 million Indians (insert internal quote here). The Raj has been used solely as a… medium of paper… the shocking changes occurring globally. For example, Aunt Helena, who represents the aging generation and remembers Britain's global glory, begins to go blind and is in need of glass eyes. Helena's eyes and loss of sight represent a national disillusionment with the end of the British Empire. Culturally, the English were so filled with unjustified pride that they could no longer physically see the social injustices created by British imperialism. The common factor between all three instances of British imperialism was Britain's greed for economic opportunity. Greed is often caused by unjustifiable pride, which Britain undeniably had. England was so willing to make various advances in its economy that it created devastating and lasting destruction in three other regions of the world. These countries still have to deal with the lingering effects of British greed.
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