Imperialist Adventure
She is an amazing piece of adventure literature with a dark side to it. The darkness comes not from the mysterious land through which the adventurers travel, nor from the calamity of natural… Continue reading
Tag Archive: She
Everyone Else Is Just Reanimated Snake-Mummies: H. Rider Haggard’s Antipodes
In our discussion of She, much has been said about the dualities in the novel (life/death, mind/body, beauty/ugliness, and the the list goes on. And on.), but it seems to me that not… Continue reading
Her Majesties the Queens
The Queen of the Amahagger may have expired in the temple of truth, but her significance as archetype of the undying evil empress lived on. From Haggard’s plain of Kôr to C. S.… Continue reading
The Veil of Permanence Removed
The veil has often been one of my favorite symbols. In modern times, it’s most often used in traditional wedding ceremonies to symbolize the bride’s virginity, innocence, modesty, and the protection of her… Continue reading
The White Queen’s Burden
H. Rider Haggard seemed quite fond of his immortal sorceress Ayesha, the titular antagonist of She, and featured her in three sequels to the 1887 novel. But Haggard does not simply explore and exploit the… Continue reading
Vanity of Vanities!
What’s the meaning of life? What are the ends of my actions, of my thoughts? What will be my legacy? Questions are everywhere and the great search is for the answers. The great… Continue reading
Shelley’s Monster vs. Haggard’s Monster
Henry Rider Haggard’s She is the story about a man and his adopted son and their sojourn to a far away place inhabited by a tribe and their goddess-like ruler that shows her… Continue reading
Ayesha v.s. the Imperialist Romance
While it is important to note Ayesha’s role in defying the typical Victorian gender structure of what a woman should or ought to be, I was more interested in seeing the way that… Continue reading
The Story in Frame
Fiction in the grand scheme is accepted as false, and yet readers allow themselves to be fooled, for a time, getting caught up in the story. There are many devises that can enhance… Continue reading
Haggard’s Ayesha and Tolkien’s Galadreil
In H. Rider Haggard’s She, we first meet with a cruel and ruthless queen bent on ruling the world through fear and dominance. When we are introduced to She-who-must-be-obeyed, this queen is the… Continue reading
The Line
I had a discussion with a friend that spurred this. The word literally has evolved to the point where its secondary meaning also incorporates hyperbole. My friend was upset. He critiqued that words… Continue reading
British Elitism and Imperialism in “She” and “Robinson Crusoe”
Daniel Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe” and H. Rider Haggard’s “She” are not simply comparable in their elaborate tales of adventure, but also in their underlying themes of English imperialism and racial superiority. Published in… Continue reading