King Solomon's Mines, in its first pages, asks the question, "What is a gentleman?" (10). Men and masculinity are at the center of the novel. It is for and about men, and knowingly so: Haggard assures his readers that there is not a woman in the novel, or “at least… not even a petticoat” (10). The feminine is marginalized or simplified and used only functionally to contrast the masculine. Critic Anne McClintock and I approach the novel differently: she uses the text historically and politically; I do not draw general, external conclusions, but focus directly on the concerns of Haggard's novel. Our essays are therefore fundamentally different, but not mutually exclusive. I teased out what is implicit in his writing to explain the novel holistically: a sense of male moral obligation pervades the novel and informs how events and the actions of its characters are presented. King Solomon's Mines is a hymn to male moral duty. It is the force that underlies the actions of those men that the novel glorifies; a true “gentleman” is one who lives and dies according to this moral code. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In King Solomon's Mines, the protection and benevolent othering of the feminine are critical parts of the English notion of male moral duty – this being indicative of their desire to control the feminine, McClintock suggests. She sees this concern with guarding and reordering it in male terms as a form of male domination, a method through which “paterfamilial restoration” might be supported (240). The English deal with the feminine on two distinct levels, the largest of which is Kakuanaland. This paradisiacal and pristine Eden is itself a feminine entity: virginal, fertile, voluptuous. The physical landscape is not too subtly reminiscent of the female form: the mountains that mark the entrance to Kakuanaland are considered “the breasts of Sheba,” two colossal forms “perfectly round and smooth” (66) with a small hill at the top of each” corresponding exactly to the nipple on the female breast” (66); beyond the mountains lies a fertile and generous central part; and a triumvirate of mountains - the "Three Witches" - form a pubic triangle, within which are numerous dark, inscrutable caves (their relationship to the female body is obvious). This landscape evokes the woman not only in form, but also in her appearance. character – female character as perceived by Victorian men, at least: the land, while beautiful, is also vulnerable. It fell under the illegitimate control of Gagool and Twala. Good, Quatermain, Sir Henry, and some of the noblest Kakuana leaders are disgusted by the degradation of Kakuanaland caused by this injustice: "The land cries out against Twala" (127), says Infadoos. The resulting war for Kakuana's throne amounts to a symbolic righting of the corrupt feminine through masculine power: war. With the triumph of Ignosi, the English, the chieftains and their armies, the land is purged of its former injustices. Foulata is another representation of the idealized feminine in Africa – a manifestation in many ways of the Victorian feminine ideal; like Kakuanaland, it is also vulnerable. She is selected as a sacrifice to the Kakuana gods and will be killed if no intervention is made. The "cosmic sign" of the English, their eclipse, simultaneously prevents Foultata's death and demonstrates to the Kakuana leaders their status as star deities, ensuring the leaders' loyalty to Ignosi and setting the stage for a war for the Kakuana throne - and therefore a restoration of power. will followjustice, the restoration of the corrupt feminine. Their duty, however, goes beyond simply restoring the proper line of royal succession in Kakuanaland. Quatermain, Good, and Sir Henry request that once Ignosi reclaims his rightful place as king of Kakuanaland, he implements some preventative regulations; Indeed, they call for British-style law and order. Ignosi promises “to govern with justice, to respect the law; and not to put anyone to death without cause” (222). Thus, through the intervention of the English and their protégé, Kakuanaland is purified from evil and safeguarded from further wrongs. McClintock reads this feminization of the land along with the reordering by the English as evidence of patriarchal domination. My reading is a distillation of his, an attempt to separate it from his broad historical perspective and find a more purely textual understanding. The feminine land is altered – the traditions of the land change once Ignosi ascends the throne – because the protagonists believe that such changes are justified and that it is a gentleman's noble calling to lend his strength to rectify and protect the feminine. McClintock sees it, associates it with external data and draws historical conclusions from there. However, his argument about the paternal control exercised by the protagonists is linked to my idea that their interest in tidying up Kakuanaland is based on an instinctive duty to justice as they understand it. The differences in topics simply demonstrate our divergent approaches. However, the mutual obligation of the characters in King Solomon's Mines – a man's duty to his brother, to his master, to his friend – is the crux of the novel's exploration of manhood. The devotion of the characters is part of the canon of special male morality developed in the novel and exists in conjunction with the obligation of (gentle) men to protect the vulnerable and fight injustice. The novel's central quest hinges on Sir Henry's obligation to recover his brother, or at least honor him in an attempt. This initial research therefore, the research that frames the novel and is resolved only in the last pages, lays the foundations for the development of the male bonds that will shape the novel. The English agree to participate intimately in a war against Twala partly because of an instinctive desire to preserve and cultivate justice, but explicitly because of their devotion to their friend Ignosi. The novel pays particular attention to the war and the glory of the fighters as they display their masculine valor, marveling at the beauty of men while concentrating their skill in the service of masculine virtues: love for their friend Ignosi in the case of the English and devotion to their leader Ignosi in the case of soldiers. In "An Elephant Hunt," a chapter seemingly detached from the bulk of the novel, Haggard provides a succinct exploration of one aspect of the masculine dynamic that works to illuminate the novel's wholesale designs. Khiva, an African serving the English on their journey, saves Captain Good from being trampled by an elephant, knowing full well that by doing so he will die. His death is the climactic moment of the chapter, his final words affirming Khiva's manhood, his lordship: "'Ah, well,' [Umbopa] said, presently, 'he is dead, but he is dead as a man'" (50) . To be a man therefore means to submit fully to the breadth of this male moral duty, the perfection of which for Khiva was death in the service of his master. Foulata also dies protecting the English, but his death is presented differently. She is stabbed by Gagool in a brief altercation: her death is not a conscious sacrifice, but evidence of her feminine weakness. Khiva is brutally torn apart by a..