"Between Body and Soul: She and the Aporia of Science and Religion"

First serialized in The Graphic in 1886, Rider Haggard’s tale of the divine and terrifying Ayesha was immediately recognized as an exceptional story of imagination. However, the conflicting epistemic substrate of "She" is designed ac-cording to a web of realistic explorations on nature and philosophy. It is also built on the vexed question of irreconcilable scientific impulses which was part of the deep existential crisis characterizing the end of the century. The essay aims at exploring the value of both science and religion in the cultural fabric of the novel. It also sheds light on the role acquired by the supernatural in the complex intermingling of real and imaginary elements.