She
{{She: A History of Adventure}}
Basic Info
- Author: H. Rider Haggard
- Year: 1887
- Type: #primary1
Summary (brief)
-first-person narrative following Horace Holly and his ward Leo Vincey to a lost kingdom in the African interior. They encounter a native people led by a mysterious white queen named Ayesha who reins as the all-powerful Hiya; in English, She-who-must-be-obeyed, or She. The savage Amahagger people are not afraid of PDA. Leo is web by Ustane (who kisses him and embraces him in public therefore marrying him). They are very impressed by guns. Leo's wife saves his life. Themes of women inciting desire and fear; Leo is the reincarnation of Ayesha's lover, Kallikrates; she is immortal via the pillar of fire; she wants Leo to bathe in the fire and become immortal and stay with her forever; Ayesha steps into the flame, nullifying her immortality, and she turns old and withers but vows to come back.
Major Themes
Key Passages / Quotes
Quote 1
quote:: “I am no bird.”
page:: 197
themes:: freedom, identity
Genre Notes
-chivalric romance and adventure; in contrast to domestic realism
Characters / Concepts (if relevant)
-Horace Holly (protagonist, Cambridge man, ugly)
Leo Vincey: Holly's ward
Ayesha of Kor: "She"
Job: Holly's servant (dies during pillar of fire because shock)
Billali: aged elder of one of the amahagger tribes; develops paternal bond with holly
Theory Connections
Related Texts
My Argument / Interpretation
-men want to control women because humanity can't go on without us.
Dissertation Relevance
How could this matter to my project?