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It was Andrew Lang, Haggard's friend, who gave him the
title of `King Romance'. All the ingredients for a great romance narrative are
there in chapter 22 of “She”, including some that Haggard added to the genre
himself. One such additive is spiritualism. In discussing Job's dream, Holly talks of "regular
cautions". This would seem to suggest that the narrator knows something of
the spirit world. However, one can argue that this comes from Haggard himself.
Not
unlike many writers of his generation, such as Yeats or Conan Doyle, Haggard
was fascinated by the spirit world. Spiritualism in this instance blends in
quite well with other, better-established Gothic devices. People had been
having strange dreams in the novels of the genre a hundred years before Job had
his. And, instead of portraits coming to life, as in “The Castle of Otranto”,
Leo's family resemblance (and the revelation of the fact that he has come on a
mission of revenge for the death of his ancient forefather) is shown by his
striking resemblance to a perfectly preserved corpse. As Ayesha herself says,
"Yesternight thou didst say that Kallikrates - him whom thou sawest - was
thine ancestor". She recognises him immediately as her lost love. Unlike
earlier Gothic novels, the young hero does not have to wait around for half the
novel before somebody notices his striking similarity to a particular portrait.
Haggard's
Gothic is far more modern, and best summarised by Brantlinger: "The three
principal themes of imperial Gothic are... going native; an invasion of
civilization by the forces of barbarism... and the diminution of opportunities
adventure in the modern world" (1). All these can be seen in chapter 22 of
“She”. Leo is in most danger of `going native', as Holly remarks when he
embraces She. Later on, Ayesha makes explicit her wish that Leo become exactly
like her, even tempting Holly to do the same. Throughout the novel, except
perhaps for here, Job is portrayed as being a priggish fool and at best, a
reminder of the world of civilization by his continued insistence on performing
his role of a servant. Yet Job is permitted to become a kind of seer here (an
unusual role for a man of his lower class status). The fate of sorceresses is
to die in "the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone" (2). Ayesha
later settles for her local pillar of fire. Job also describes She as "the
old gentleman": it cannot be coincidence that Ayesha will later try to
tempt Holly, talking in particular about `bearing lamps'.
The
threat to the three travellers comes from an unusual source. Ayesha can
certainly be seen as a devilish creature. Although She is associated with
light, it could very well be that Haggard was using the `Lucifer' metaphor
(which literally means to `bear light'). Despite her tendency to `blast' people
who disobey her, neither Holly nor Leo can help but be attracted to her. Using
another staple ingredient of traditional Gothic, Haggard revealed the potency
of his anti-heroine by having her `blast' Ustane. Although Ustane is not the
usual virtuous young maiden, he does portray her in a very positive way. The
innovation is that a matriarchal despot, rather than the usual patriarch,
dispatches her.
During
his attack on `realist' fiction, Haggard wrote "Sexual passion is the most
powerful lever with which to stir the mind of man, for it lies at the root of
all things human" (3). This argument is maintained here, for Haggard stirs
this lever in a highly unrealistic setting, thus addressing adult issues in a
`safe' manner. Ayesha is threatening because she uses her sexuality as a
weapon: "she... drew the white corsage still farther down her ivory
bosom". Sexual passion has always been a part of Gothic romance: one need
only remind oneself of Matilda's act of seduction in “The Monk” by Matthew Lewis.
The
second of Brantlinger's themes is represented in the chapter by Ayesha's threat
to depose Queen Victoria and take over the British Empire. Stoker would later use a male figure to
suggest this nightmare of `reverse colonization'. The creation of Lucy Westenra
might also be related to Haggard's Ayesha, featuring Victorian man’s fear of
encroaching female emancipation. Indeed, Holly's idea of how awful it would be
to be immortal finds a place in the later myth of Dracula: “But harder still
would it be to live on, green in the leaf and fair, but dead and rotten at the
core". Later writers drew from Haggard, but there is one aspect of the
narrative that is peculiar to him: the tendency to make his characters say the
most stupid things.
It is risible that Leo makes a larger outburst at Ayesha’s threat to Queen Victoria than at her slaying of Ustane, his love interest. Holly spoils the solemnity of Job's fear by resorting to a coarse `mother-in-law' joke. Yet one could argue that this is an indispensable part of the novel; if Haggard's characters were not quirky, then one might not really care for them in moments of danger. The Gothic romance is only enhanced when Holly confides with us that it did "carry a chill to my heart". Throughout the novel, as Gilbert and Gubar note (4), Holly presents anthropological descriptions of the Amahaggar which are quite like Herodotus' accounts of the ancient Egyptians, revealing yet another aspect of Haggard's occultism. Still the only comfort to be derived from the chapter is that picture of the tribesman sowing his field.
(1)
Brantlinger p.230
(2)
Karlin p.330.
(3)
Haggard p.176
(4)
Gilbert and Gubar p.13
Bibliography
"About
Fiction" by Rider Haggard, in The Contemporary Review.
Rule
of Darkness by Patrick Brantlinger.
No
Man's Land, Volume 2: Sexchanges by Sandra M.Gilbert and Susan Gubar.
SHE edited
by Daniel Karlin, Oxford University Press.
|
Visit
our Rider
Haggard page, for Rider Haggard biography, Rider Haggard bibliography,
Rider Haggard ebooks, and free Rider Haggard essays |
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