The Matriarchal Society and the New Woman in She by H. Rider Haggard

Resumen

This paper provides a new-historicist analysis of the emergence of matriarchal theories and what is known as the New Woman, related to the women‟s public role and status during the late 19th century, present in Henry Rider Haggard's She published in between 1886-1887. Taking into account that the novel had been influenced by the historical context of the late Victorian period, the purpose has
been to comprehend how Haggard reconstructs these two historical events previously mentioned in order to reaffirm the supremacy of patriarchy, to remain male hegemony and to perpetuate sexist attitudes through the novel. The analysis of this paper will be divided into two parts; each part will have two sections. The first part will develop the matriarchal theory of the late 19th century; the next
section, will cover the matriarchal society of the novel. The second part of this paper will examine the emergence of what is known as the New Woman during the late 19th century and the following section will cover the New Woman in She.