Ayesha as a New Face of Woman: A Feminist Reading of Rider Haggard’sShe: A History of Adventure

Abstract

The essay attempts a feminist reading of the much celebrated Victorian novel She: A History of Adventure by H. Rider Haggard so as to subvert the archetypical role of femme fatale very often endowed to the main character Ayesha also called ‘She-who-must-be-obeyed’ and the several misogynist readings of the novel. The portrayal of an omnipotent and omniscient female character heralds the dawn of the late 19^th century feminist idea of ‘The New Woman’. The essay, by taking the gender based theme identified in the novel by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, shows howShe displays a disconcerting tendency to transcend the patriarchal boundaries set to contain her and thus problematizes the traditional distinction of masculinity and feminity.