Page "She: A History of Adventure" Paragraph 39

Like many of his Victorian contemporaries, Rider Haggard " proceeds on the assumption that whites are naturally superior to blacks, and that Britain's imperial extensions into Africa are a noble, civilising enterprise ".

Although Haggard penned a number of novels that portrayed Africans in a comparatively realistic light, She was not among their number.

Even in King Solomon's Mines, the representation of Umbopa ( who was based on an actual warrior ) and the Kukuanas, drew upon Haggard's knowledge and understanding of the Zulus.

In contrast, She makes no such distinctions.

Ayesha, the English travellers, and the ancient inhabitants of Kôr are all white embodiments of civilisation, while the darker Amahagger, as a people, illustrate notions of savagery, barbarity, and superstition.

Nonetheless, the " racial politics of the novel are more complex than they first appear ", given that Ayesha is in origin an ancient Arabian, Leo is descended from, and physically resembles a blond Hellenistic Greek, while Holly is said to resemble a baboon in facial appearance-an animal Victorians typically associated with black Africans.

Whilst critics like Wendy Katz, Patricia Murphy, and Susan Gubar have analysed the strong racist undercurrent in She, Andrew Stauffer has taken note of the qualifications through which " the novel suggests deeper connections among the races, an ancient genealogy of ethnicities and civilizations in which every character is a hybrid ".