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The Sexual Imperative in the Novels of Sir Henry Rider Haggard

The Sexual Imperative in the Novels of Sir Henry Rider Haggard

Richard Reeve

(2018)

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Abstract

The Sexual Imperative in the Novels of Sir Henry Rider Haggard is a detailed study of the development of the theme of the sexual imperative primarily through the prism of ten of Haggard’s novels, a largely unexplored area of his fiction, and also through some of his contemporary romances. Filling an important gap in Haggard scholarship, which has traditionally tended to focus on his early romances and their political and psychological resonances, the book contributes to wider current debates on Victorian and turn-of-the-century literature. This volume explores the relationship between Haggard’s fictional rendition of the sexual imperative and aspects of his personal history, proposing that his preoccupation with the subject constitutes, in significant part, an outworking of deeply personal sexual and emotional issues. Relating Haggard’s fiction to the literary and social context in which he wrote, Richard Reeve contends that although Haggard’s treatment of this theme is not nearly as adventurous as that of some of his literary contemporaries, his repeated consideration of what he regarded as the most important human driver lends his fiction a strength and integrity which has not been fully recognized.


‘Combining biography with literary criticism, Reeve offers a compelling new look at H. Rider Haggard’s ideas about love and sexuality. Unlike previous studies that focus on She and King Solomon’s Mines, Reeve draws from Haggard’s complete oeuvre to identify and interpret previously unexamined aspects of this novelist’s thinking about romantic relationships.’
—Kate Holterhoff, Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA


The main focus of 'The Sexual Imperative in the Novels of Sir Henry Rider Haggard' is Haggard's preoccupation in his fiction with the theme of the sexual imperative and the relationship between his fictional representations and his personal emotional geography and experiences. It illuminates and explores aspects of this theme primarily by detailed examination of ten of his novels but it also demonstrates that identically evolving considerations of the theme are apparent in his contemporary romances. The book fills an important gap in Haggard scholarship which has traditionally tended to focus on his early romances and to centre on their political and psychological resonances. It also contributes to wider current debates on Victorian and turn of the century literature.

The book adopts a chronological framework which spans the entirety of Haggard’s writing career and considers the novels and corresponding romances which he wrote at each stage in his literary development. It considers Haggard’s literary representations in the context of contemporary sexual behaviours and attitudes, and of other contemporary literary representations of sexuality. It notes Haggard’s deployment in his novels of contemporary literary genres, notably those of the Sensation Novel, the New Woman, and later Modernism, and it examines what he contributed to these genres and how his interpretation of them compared to that of his literary contemporaries.

This book traces Haggard's emotional investment in his evolving depictions of the destructive potential for the male of female sexuality and demonstrates that his focus develops, as his writing career progresses, from deeply personal renditions of sexual betrayal towards a proposal that the seeds of moral destruction are an integral part of the sexual imperative. It examines his sustained consideration in his novels of the issues of the position of women and of the marriage question and documents his exploration of whether an unsatisfactory marriage legitimises extra-marital sexual relations. It notes, as a measure of Haggard’s moral progressiveness, that despite his formal need to criticise this behaviour, he is in fact clear that it is both natural and morally irreproachable. The book also examines Haggard’s exploration of the merits of a love which is predominantly spiritual rather than sexual and his consideration of the virtues of sexual renunciation. It relates his treatment of these themes to that of contemporary novelists and spiritualist writers. It documents his final fiction which depicts the inescapable imperatives of the human situation and celebrates the overwhelming validity of sexual passion in a committed relationship. It considers the extent of Haggard’s modernity and proposes that although he remains careful and caveated in his moral statements, and conservative by contemporary literary standards, he does unquestionably endorse self-fulfilment over social duty. The book’s conclusion argues that Haggard’s novels and many of his romances represent a consideration of issues which he saw as at the root of being and that the consistency, balance and open-mindedness with which he pursued them suggest a generally uncredited integrity and weight to his fiction.


Richard Reeve was educated in England at King Edward’s School, Bath, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read English. He gained his doctorate from the University of Reading, England. He joined HM Diplomatic Service in 1971 and served in Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Switzerland.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Front Matter i
Half title i
Title page iii
Copyright information iv
Dedication v
Table of contents vii
Acknowledgments ix
Chapter Int-7 1
Introduction 1
Chapter One The Sexual Imperative 5
Chapter Two: The Origins Of Haggard’s Fictional Writing 11
Romance and Realism 11
The Attractions for Haggard of Romance Writing 15
Haggard’s Perseverance with His Novels 16
Doctor Therne 17
Haggard’s Attitude towards Writing 19
Haggard’s Early Life 24
Haggard’s Relationship with His Father 25
Haggard’s Relationship with His Mother 25
Lilly Jackson 29
Johanna Ford 31
Haggard’s Wife, Louisa Margitson 34
Agnes Barber 36
Conclusion 38
Chapter Three: The Early Novels (1884–95): Youthful Anger 41
Haggard’s Contemporary Biographical Experiences 41
Dawn and Its Biographical Resonances 42
The Witch’s Head and Its Biographical Resonances 43
Colonel Quaritch V. C. and Its Biographical Resonances 45
Joan Haste and Its Biographical Resonances 46
The Stereotypical Nature of Haggard’s Male and Female Characters 47
Sexually Potent and Sexually Vulnerable Women, and Their Roots in Haggard’s Biography 48
Feminine Sexual Vulnerability 53
The Punishment of Disruptive Women 54
The Destructive Impact upon Men of Desirable but Benign Women 58
Men’s Share of the Blame for Their Sexual Excesses 61
The Consequences of the Sexual Imperative: Sexual Jealousy, Moral Disintegration and Violence 65
The Sins of the Father 68
Consolatory and Redemptive Women 69
Negative Depictions of Marriage 70
Spiritual Love and Love in an Afterlife 71
Conclusions 73
Chapter Four: The New Woman, Female Self-Sacrifice And Spirituality (1887–1901) 77
Jess and Its Biographical Resonances 77
Beatrice and Its Biographical Overtones 79
The New Woman 81
Jess and Beatrice as Sexually Passionate and Sexually Potent Women 84
The Sexually Passionate Women of Haggard’s Romances 86
Jess and Beatrice’s Impact upon Their Lovers 86
The Moral Dilemmas in Jess, Beatrice and Joan Haste 87
What Happens Between the Lovers in Jess and Beatrice; Moral Judgements and the Drift of the Subtext 90
The Spirituality of Jess and Beatrice 96
Conclusion 97
Chapter Five: Spiritual Love And Sexual Renunciation (1899–1908) 99
Haggard’s Contemporary Biography 99
The Contemporary Interest in Spiritualism 100
Haggard’s Experience with Aspects of Spiritualism and His Fascination with the Concept of an Afterlife 101
Stella Fregelius and Its Biographical Resonances 103
The Way of the Spirit and Its Biographical Resonances 105
The Question of Celibacy 106
The Capacities and Limitations of Spirituality and Spiritual Intimacy 110
Female Power and Female Divinity 116
Spiritual Communication between Lovers 118
The Reunion of Lovers in an Afterlife 118
Communication with the Dead 120
Conclusions 121
Chapter Six: The Final Fiction: Spiritual Consolation And The Dictates Of The Sexual Imperative (1909–30) 125
Haggard’s Contemporary Biography 126
Love Eternal and Its Biographical Resonances 127
Mary of Marion Isle and Its Biographical Resonances 129
The Sexual Potency of Women: Representations of Female Sexuality in Haggard’s Late Fiction 130
Female Self-Sacrifice 132
The Influence of the Great War upon Love Eternal and Certain of Haggard’s Contemporary Romances 133
Haggard’s Emphasis in His Fiction upon Spirituality and the Spiritual Union of Lovers 135
Reticence about Sex but Subtle Assertions of the Pull of the Sexual Imperative 136
Mutual Spirituality and the Divine and Eternal Aspects of Spiritual Love 138
The Reunion of Lovers in an Afterlife 139
The Dangers of Aspects of Spiritualism 140
Attempts to Communicate with the Dead 141
The Newness of Love Eternal 142
Male Ability to Survive Emotional Betrayals by Females 142
Criticism of the Established Church 145
Scrutiny of Marital Relationships 146
The Sexual Imperative and Sex Outside Marriage 148
Haggard as Modernist 150
Chapter Seven: Summation: A Personal Odyssey 155
Identical Concerns in Haggard’s Romances 156
Women in Haggard’s Fiction 156
Men in Haggard’s Fiction 157
Personal Issues in Haggard’s Fiction 157
The Close Similarities between Haggard’s Novels and Romances 161
The Integrity of Haggard’s Fiction 162
Appendix: Plot Summaries 165
Dawn (1884) 165
The Witch’s Head (1884) 165
Jess (1887) 166
Colonel Quaritch V.C.: A Tale of Country Life (1888) 167
Beatrice (1890) 168
Joan Haste (1895) 168
Dr Therne (1898) 169
Stella Fregelius (1904) 170
The Way of the Spirit (1906) 170
Love Eternal (1918) 171
Mary of Marion Isle (1929) 172
Notes 173
Introduction 173
Chapter One The Sexual Imperative 173
Chapter Two The Origins of Haggard’s Fictional Writing 174
Chapter Three The Early Novels (1884–95): Youthful Anger 178
Chapter Four The New Woman, Female Self-Sacrifice and Spirituality (1887–1901) 180
Chapter Five Spiritual Love and Sexual Renunciation (1899–1908) 181
Chapter Six The Final Fiction: Spiritual Consolation and the Dictates of the Sexual Imperative (1909–30) 184
Chapter Seven Summation: A Personal Odyssey 186
End Matter 165
Bibliography 189
Letters and Journals 189
Primary Works and Editions Consulted 189
Secondary Works 192
Index 195