Politics and Women Xavier Herbert's women

In all his novels, from Capricomia to Poor Fellow My Country, Xavier Herbert presents us with women opposed to and thwarting men in situ· ations which end in tragedy. This is most obvious in Soldiers' Women but it is also present in Seven Emus. My first aim in this article will be to show that these surface resemblances reflect certain preoccupations common to all Herbert's novels and which are also present in such Australian classics as Such Is Life and Coonardoo. My second aim will be to suggest why such a continuous tradition should have gone unrecognised.