She: A History of Adventure is a Gothic novel by the English writer H. Rider Haggard, published in book form in 1887 following serialisation in The Graphic magazine between October 1886 and January 1887. She was extraordinarily popular upon its release and has never been out of print.
The story is a first-person narrative which follows the journey of 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 (pronounced "Assha") who reigns as the all-powerful Hiya — in English, She-who-must-be-obeyed, or She.
Haggard developed many conventions of the lost world genre which countless authors have since emulated. His works represent part of a broader literary revival of chivalric romance and adventure stories, in contrast to domestic realism. Other writers following this trend were Robert Louis Stevenson, George MacDonald, and William Morris. Haggard was inspired by his experiences living in South Africa for seven years (1875–1882) working at the highest levels of the British colonial administration.
In the figure of She, the novel explored themes of female authority and feminine behaviour. Its archetypal representation of womanhood has received both praise and criticism.
Plot Horace Holly, a young Cambridge University professor, is visited by Vincey, a colleague who is convinced that he will soon die. Vincey charges Holly with the task of raising his young son, Leo. He gives Holly a locked iron box, with instructions that it is not to be opened until Leo's 25th birthday. Holly agrees. Vincey is found dead the next day, and Holly raises the boy as his own. When the box is opened they discover the ancient "Sherd of Amenartas". The Sherd describes an ancient love triangle between Amenartas, She, and Kallikrates. She kills Kallikrates, and Amenartas charges her son with revenge. The son attempted the task without success, and passed the quest on to his son, who also failed. So did the quest pass through the generations, until Vincey passed it to Leo.
Although Holly disbelieves the story, Leo decides to investigate. The two, along with their servant, Job, follow instructions on the Sherd and travel to eastern Africa. After surviving a shipwreck, they and their Arab captain, Mahomed, journey into the African interior where they are captured by the savage Amahagger people. The adventurers learn that the natives are ruled by a fearsome white queen who is worshipped as Hiya or "She-who-must-be-obeyed". Billali, chief of one of the Amahagger tribes, takes charge of the three men, introducing them to the ways of his people. One of the Amahagger maidens, Ustane, takes a liking to Leo and, by kissing him and embracing him publicly, weds him according to Amahagger custom. Leo, likewise, grows very fond of her.
Billali leaves to report the white men's arrival to the queen. In his absence, some of the Amahagger become restless and attempt to eat Mahomed as part of a ritual "hot pot". Holly shoots and kills several of the Amahagger, accidentally killing Mahomed in the process. Leo is gravely wounded in the ensuing struggle, and Ustane saves his life by throwing herself onto his prostrate body. Billali returns and declares that the three men are under the queen's protection. Ustane faithfully attends to Leo, but his condition worsens, especially when the queen summons them and they are forced to traverse the swamps linking the kingdom.
The men are taken to the home of the queen near the ruins of the lost city of Kôr, a once-mighty civilisation that predated the Egyptians. In a series of catacombs originally built as tombs, Holly is presented to the queen, a white sorceress named Ayesha whose beauty is so great that it enchants any man who beholds it. Ayesha, veiled and behind a partition, warns Holly that the power of her splendour arouses both desire and fear. When she shows herself, Holly is enraptured and prostrates himself before her. Ayesha reveals that she has learned the secret of immortality and that she possesses other supernatural powers including the ability to read the minds of others, as well as healing wounds and curing illness, but she is unable to see into the future. She tells Holly that she has lived in Kôr for more than two millennia, awaiting the reincarnated return of her lover, Kallikrates (whom she had slain in a fit of jealous rage).
The next evening Ayesha visits Leo, intending to heal him. Upon seeing his face, she declares him to be the reincarnation of Kallikrates. Ayesha orders Ustane to leave and never set eyes on Leo again. When Ustane refuses, Ayesha strikes her dead with magic. Leo becomes bewitched, and despite the murder of Ustane, neither Holly nor Leo can free themselves from Ayesha's power. Ayesha shows Leo the perfectly preserved body of Kallikrates, which she has kept with her, and then dissolves the remains with a powerful acid, confident that Leo is indeed the reincarnation of her former lover.
Ayesha takes the men to see the Pillar of Fire, the source of her immortality and power. She is determined that Leo should bathe in the fire to become immortal and remain with her forever. Arriving at the great cavern, Leo doubts the safety of entering the fire, whereupon Ayesha herself steps into the flame. This second immersion nullifies her immortality, and she begins to wither and revert to her true age. The sight is so shocking that Job dies of fright. Before dying, Ayesha tells Leo, "Forget me not. I shall come again!" Holly and Leo then depart from Kôr and eventually return to their home in Cambridge.
Characters
Horace Holly – protagonist and narrator, Holly is a Cambridge man whose keen intellect and knowledge were developed to compensate for his ape-like appearance. Holly knows a number of ancient languages, including Greek, Arabic, and Hebrew, which allow him to communicate with the Amahagger (who speak a form of Arabic) and She (who knows all three languages). Holly's interest in archaeology and the origins of civilisation lead him to explore the ruins of Kôr. Leo Vincey – ward of Horace Holly, Leo is a handsome, physically active young English gentleman with a head of thick blond hair. He is the confidant of Holly and befriends Ustane. According to She, Leo resembles Kallikrates in appearance and is his reincarnation. Ayesha of Kor – the title character of the novel, called Hiya by the native Amahagger, or "She" (She-who-must-be-obeyed). Ayesha was born over 2,000 years ago amongst the Arabs, mastering the lore of the ancients and becoming a great sorceress. Learning of the Pillar of Life in the African interior, she journeyed to the ruined kingdom of Kôr, feigning friendship with a hermit who was the keeper of the Flame that granted immortality. She bathed in the Pillar of Life's fire. Her name Ayesha is of Arabic origin and, according to the author, should be pronounced "Assha".Haggard, H. Rider (1957) Ayesha: the Return of She. London: Collins; p. 21 Job – Holly's trusted servant. Job is a working-class man and highly suspicious and judgmental of non-English peoples. He is also a devout Protestant. Of all the travellers, he is especially disgusted by the Amahagger and fearful of She. Billali – an aged elder of one of the Amahagger tribes, who develops a paternal bond with Holly that proves instrumental in the escape from the Amahagger by both Holly and Leo. Ustane – an Amahagger maiden. She becomes romantically attached to Leo, caring for him when he is injured, acting as his protector, and defying She to stay with him. Kallikrates – an ancient Greek, the husband of Amenartas, and ancestor of Leo. Two thousand years ago, he and Amenartas fled Egypt, seeking a haven in the African interior where they met Ayesha. There, She fell in love with him, promising to give him the secret of immortality if he would kill Amenartas. He refused, and, enraged, She struck him down. Amenartas – an ancient Egyptian priestess and ancestress of the Vincey family. As a priestess of Isis, she was protected from the power of She. When Ayesha slew Kallikrates, she expelled Amenartas from her realm. Amenartas gave birth to Kallikrates's son, beginning the line of the Vinceys, Leo's ancestors.
Background South Africa In 1875, Haggard was sent to Cape Town, South Africa as secretary to Sir Henry Bulwer, the lieutenant-governor of Natal. Haggard wrote in his memoirs of his aspirations to become a colonial governor himself, and of his youthful excitement at the prospects.Haggard, H. Rider (1926), Days of My Life, vol. 1, p. 102. The major event during his time in Africa was Britain's annexation of the Transvaal in 1877. Haggard was part of the expedition that established British control over the Boer republic, and which helped raise the Union flag over the capital of Pretoria on 24 May 1877. Writing of the moment, Haggard declared:
Haggard had advocated the British annexation of the Boer republic in a journal article entitled "The Transvaal", published in the May 1877 issue of Macmillan's Magazine. He maintained that it was Britain's "mission to conquer and hold in subjection, not from thirst of conquest but for the sake of law, justice, and order".Haggard, H. Rider (1877), "The Transvaal", p. 78. However, Boer resistance to annexation and the resulting Anglo-Zulu War caused the government in London to withdraw from pursuing sovereignty over the South African interior. Haggard considered this to be a "great betrayal" by Prime Minister Gladstone and the Liberal Party, which "no lapse of time ever can solace or even alleviate".Haggard, H. Rider (1926), Days of My Life, vol. 1, p. 194. He became increasingly disillusioned with the realities of colonial Africa. Victorian scholar Patrick Brantlinger notes in his introduction to She: "Little that Haggard witnessed matched the romantic depictions of 'the dark continent' in boys' adventure novels, in the press, and even in such bestselling explorers' journals as David Livingstone's Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa (1857)."Brantlinger, p. viii.
During his time in South Africa, Haggard developed an intense hatred for the Boers, but also came to admire the Zulus. However, his admiration of the Zulus did not extend to other African peoples; rather, he shared many of the assumptions that underlay contemporary politics and philosophy, such as those expressed by James Hunt, the President of the Anthropological Society of London: "the Negro is inferior intellectually to the European...[and] can only be humanised and civilised by Europeans. The analogies are far more numerous between the Negro and apes, than between the European and apes." The Victorian belief in the inherent inferiority of the 'darker races' made them the object of a civilising impulse in the European Scramble for Africa. Although disenchanted with the colonial effort, Haggard remained committed to this ideology. He believed that the British "alone of all the nations in the world appear to be able to control coloured races without the exercise of cruelty".
Return to Britain