Even the success of King Solomon's Mines did not prepare the English reading public for the imaginative tour de force of She. In terms of broader literary traditions, Haggard's story draws on ancient mythic themes, the most obvious of which is the search for spiritual knowledge through a quest. In fact, the Pillar of Flame, which the heroes discover deep in the caves of Kor, embodies "The Spirit of Life" itself. Either literally or symbolically, some type of divine knowledge is often the goal of quests undertaken by heroes of myths.

Unlike many of Haggard's other adventure stories, She has a central romantic theme in Ayesha's obsessive love for Kallikrates and Leo. Typically, though, in Haggard's day the term "romance" referred to a story's mysterious and exotic settings, and to the fantastic struggles and obstacles that the hero had to overcome. Characters in a romance usually...