She by H. Rider Haggard and Things Fall Apart by Chinua...

How are the roles and representations of females in the texts She by H. Rider Haggard and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe presented? Given two different situations the women are in, the outcome is close to the same. Ayesha in She plays a role she created for herself in the Amahagger community, which can be contrasted with the culture the novel was written in by the author at the time. The women in Things Fall Apart are also as such represented by their culture, and can be compared to the female gender seen by their people as a distinct role. In both, the woman in these texts take on roles and functions of the cultures that they existed inside, which is important to understand why they behave as they do. In the novel ‘She’, Ayesha plays a role that she has cultivated for herself as the leader of an isolated culture. She behaves in the way that this kind of leader should, â€Å"How thinkest thou that I rule this people? I have but a regiment of guards to do my bidding, therefore it is not by force. It is by terror. My empire is a moral one† (Haggard 170). She says this to Holly when discussing her harsh punishment to the criminal Amahagger, showing that she has created a culture ruled by terror, and she acts accordingly to that. She will be not swayed to behave differently, since this is the role she holds herself in. Ayesha has come to expect complete submission to her rule, shown when she tries to get Ustane to leave Leo to heal him, saying, â€Å"’Why doth not that woman leave