The Return of Tarzan

What It's About

Having left Africa and the woman he loves, Tarzan crosses the sea to Europe and soon finds himself pursued by two Russian villains, Nikolas Rokoff and Alexis Paulvitch. After a spell in the drawing rooms and backstreets of Paris, where he befriends Count Raoul de Coude and his wife Olga, the story moves to the Algerian desert and then back to the African jungle, where he meets the Waziri warriors and La, the high priestess of the lost city of Opar. Jane Porter remains central to the story. Fast-paced and full of narrow escapes, it carries the ape-man's adventures out of the jungle and into the wider world.

Key Concepts

The novel plays with the contrast between civilised society and the wild, asking whether Tarzan's honour and strength come from breeding or from his upbringing. It also draws on the lost-race adventure tradition through Opar, and on themes of revenge, loyalty and thwarted love. Readers should be aware that, like much adventure fiction of its day, it reflects the racial and colonial attitudes of the early twentieth century, particularly in its portrayal of African and Arab characters, and these have drawn criticism from modern readers.

About the Author

Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950) was an American novelist, born in Chicago. After a string of unsuccessful jobs, he turned to writing in his mid-thirties and became one of the most commercially successful pulp authors of the twentieth century, as well as the creator of the character of Tarzan.