According to Patteson, “Female characters appear in all genres of popular literature, but the roles they are assigned seldom present women in a very favorable light. With the exception of the sentimental romance or "love story" - a form specifically aimed at a female audience - women do not usually figure as protagonists. Instead their function is to support, or to foil, the actions of male heroes in a variety of ways. Women are identified with the earth, while the men who bring light to various dark continents are linked to the sun, moon, and stars. Nearly every imperialist romance includes the hero's descent into a womb-like cave or mine shaft from which he usually escapes by summoning his "masculine" inner resources - courage, self-control, and ingenuity. One of the greatest dangers frequently faced by the explorers is power in the hands of a woman. This power is characteristically wielded through a combination of sexual enticement and maternal possessiveness. The fear and hatred of women evident everywhere in the imperialist romance can be explained partially, at least, by the imperialists' hunger for domination. Victorian imperialism was a masculine imperative. The most common complaint against women in the imperialist romance is their interference between friends. Not infrequently male friends are said to be bound by "'a love passing the love of a woman."'12 Women threaten such friendships, and marriage is presented as a betrayal of male camaraderie.”Patteson, Richard F. "Manhood and Misogyny in the Imperialist Romance." Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature 35.1 (1981): 3–12. Print. In addition, Rebecca Stott claims that the “impulse” to draw away the veil from the woman is uncontrollable and that it must be confronted.Stott, Rebecca. "The Dark Continent: Africa as Female Body in Haggard's Adventure Fiction." Feminist Review 32 (1989): 69-89. Print. According to Patricia Murphy, author of the article “The Gendering of History in She,” the New Woman is another manifestation of all women, whose dangerous effects upon men replicate those of her mythic counterparts. She explains that discourse on time play an important role in the construction of gender positions in late-century novels responding to the New Woman, such as Haggard's novels.Murphy, Patricia. "The Gendering of History in She." SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900 39.4 (1999): 747–72. Print.
