Ustane’s Evolution versus Ayesha’s Immortality in H. Rider Haggard’s She

H. Rider Haggard’s adventure story She is a favorite of Freudian critics who focus on the demonic, erotic, immortal Ayesha as a symbol of the “eternal feminine.” They mostly ignore, however, the mortal Ustane, the other powerful woman in She. The sources of Ustane’s strength suggest an ideological reason for her neglect: she reflects biological imperatives, while the immortal Ayesha transcends them. Though the deaths of both women seem to thwart a resolution of these conflicting sources of potency, I contend that evolutionary theory (especially Darwin’s sexual selection) provides a better explanation of feminine power in She than Freudian theory.