She: A history of Adventure.

(1886)

Fig 1.

She is a fantasy adventure novel written by H. Rider Haggard in 1886-1887. Very much considered a classic, She has sold over 83 million copies in 44 languages. It was first published in a series for The Graphic magazine, by Illustrated Newspapers limited, from October 1886 to January 1887. Sir Henry Rider Haggard, 1856-1925, was a Novelist born in Norfolk, England, when in 1875, his father sent him on an unpaid job to South Africa, to be an assistant of Sir Henry Bulwer. LieutenantGovernor of the Colony of Natal. In 1876, he was transferred to Transvaal, where he participated in the official British annexation of Boer republic of Transvaal, where he hung the Union Jack and read out the proclamation in place of original person with the duty to do so. [source 1] At the time, the British Empire was always expanding, the Victorian era is when England could be considered most powerful, Queen Victoria ruled over half the map at the time, the annexation of land was exciting and a very proud thing to the people of the time. Though shunned upon now, it is easy to see why H. Haggard would have been so proud and inspired by such an event. In 1879, the Anglo-Zulu war also took place, a war that lasted 5 months, where the British took the independence of the Zulu kingdom, which would have again been a very proud move for the British, but would also be a time where the British public would be seeing native African land a lot more, and naturally, would become more interested in the lands. In 1882, England occupied Egypt using the Canal they had recently purchased shares on, Suez Canal, where we made enhanced trade routes and cotton supply to England, which again, would build interest from the public of England into Egypt, and would have allowed people to come explore their worldly wonders. [source 2] Haggard lived in Newcastle, Natal until 1882, and returned to England, where he began to write, and completed his first novel in 1885, King Solomons Mines, along with many over books, including She. [source 3]

The character featured in She, Ayesha, was in a whole series of books written by H.Haggard.

Chronology of Works: King Solomon's Mines (1885) Allan Quatermain (1887) She (1887) Cleopatra (1889) The World's Desire (1890); co-written with Andrew Lang Eric Brighteyes (1891) Nada the Lily (1892) Montezuma's Daughter (1893) The People of the Mist (1894) Stella Fregelius: A Tale of Three Destinies (1903) The Brethren (1904) Ayesha: The Return of She (1905) She and Allan (1921)

Plot
She, follows the journey of Horace Holly and his ward Leo Vincey, to the city of Kor, a lost city in Africa, where they cross paths with the natives of the mysterious city, and their white queen, Ayesha. Ayesha is called She, or she-who-must-be-obeyed. Ayesha believes to have found her reincarnated love Killikrates, and becomes jealous of his female friend, and slays her. Holly and Leo forgive her, and follow her to the depth of a dormant volcano, so her love can also become immortal like her, where on the way they find out about Ayeshas past, and her immortality.

Adaptations
She (1935) Directed by L.C. Hodel and Irving Pichel She (1965) Directed By Robert Day.

fig.2 There was also a silent film adaptation in 1917, directed by Kenean Buel, but is now lost, so no images or footage can be found.

fig.3

Illutrations Fig.1: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/HRiderHaggard.jpg/180pxHRiderHaggard.jpg Fig 2: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026983/ Fig 3: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059710/

Bibliography: 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She:_A_History_of_Adventure 2: http://realhistoryww.com/world_history/ancient/Greek_Period.htm 3: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Rider_Haggard