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Herland (novel)
Encyclopedia
Herland is a utopian novel from 1915
, written by feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman
. The book describes an isolated society composed entirely of women who reproduce via parthenogenesis
(asexual reproduction). The result is an ideal social order, free of war, conflict and domination. It first appeared as a serial in Perkins Gilman's monthly magazine Forerunner
a magazine edited and written by Perkins between 1909 and 1916. The book is the middle volume in Gilman's utopian trilogy; it was preceded by her Moving the Mountain
(1911), and followed with a sequel, With Her in Ourland
(1916). It was not published in book form until 1979.
who, along with two friends (Terry O. Nicholson and Jeff Margrave), forms an expedition party to explore an area of unchartered land where it is rumoured lives a society consisting entirely of women. The three friends do not really believe the rumours as they are unable to conceive of how human reproduction could occur without males. The men speculate about what a society of women would be like, each guessing differently based on the stereotype of women which he holds most dear, Jeff regarding women as things to be served and protected, Terry viewing them as things to be conquered and won.
When the explorers reach their destination, they proceed with caution, hiding the biplane they arrive in and trying to keep themselves hidden in the forests which border the land. They are quickly found by three young women who they realize are observing them from the treetops. After attempting to catch the girls with trickery, the men end up chasing the young women towards a town or village. The women outrun them easily and disappear among the houses, which, Van notes are exceptionally well made and attractive. After meeting the first inhabitants of this new land, which Van names Herland, the men proceed more cautiously, noting that the girls they met were strong, agile and completely unafraid. Their caution is warranted because as the men enter the town where the girls disappeared, they become surrounded by a large group of women who march them towards an official looking building. The three men attempt an escape but are swiftly and easily overpowered by the large group of women and eventually anesthetized.
The men awake to find themselves held captive in a fortress-like building. They are given comfortable living accommodations, clean clothes, and food. The women assign each man a tutor who teaches the men their language. Van makes many notes about the new country and people, commenting that everything from their clothing to their furniture seems to be made with the twin ideals of pragmatism and aesthetics given equal consideration. The women themselves appear intelligent and astute, unafraid and patient, with a notable lack of temper and seemingly limitless understanding for their captives. The women are keen to learn about the world outside and question the men eagerly about all manner of things. Often Van finds himself having difficulty justifying the practices of his own society such as the milking of cows, the keeping of dogs as pets, and abortion, when faced with the apparent utopia the women have managed to build.
After being held captive for a number of months the men break out of the fortress and escape cross-country to where they left their biplane. Finding it sewed inside a large fabric covering they are unable to get away and are resignedly recaptured by the women. They are treated well nonetheless and soon learn that they will be given a freer rein when they have mastered the women's language and proved they can be trusted. Van remarks upon Terry's personal difficulty in dealing with the women who steadfastly refuse to conform to his expectations of how women should act, though Jeff seems perfectly enamored of the women and their kindness.
Van gradually finds out more and more about the women's society, discovering that most of the men were killed 2,000 years ago when a volcanic eruption sealed off the only pass out of Herland. The remaining men were mostly slaves who killed the sons of their dead masters and the old women, intending to take over the land and the young women with it. The women fought back however and killed the slaves. After a period of hopelessness at the impending end of their race, cut-off from the rest of the world and without any men, one woman among the survivors became pregnant and bore a female child. Remarkably this happened a further four times. The five daughters of this woman also grew up to bear five daughters each. This process rapidly expanded their population and led to the exaltation of motherhood. Ever since that time the women had devoted themselves to improving their minds, working together and raising their children; the position of teacher being one of the most revered and respected positions in the land.
As the men are allowed more freedom, each strikes up a relationship with one of the women they had first seen upon their arrival, Van with the one called Ellador, Jeff with Celis, and Terry with Alima. Having had no men for 2,000 years the women apparently have no experience or cultural memory of romantic love or sexual intercourse. As such, the couples' budding relationships progress with some difficulty and much explanation. Terry in particular finds it hard to adjust to being in a relationship with a woman who is not a 'woman' in his terms. Eventually all three couples get 'married', although the women largely fail to see the point of such a thing and as they have no particular religions the ceremony is more pagan than Christian.
Their marriages cause the men much reflection, the women they married have no conception of what being a wife or being feminine entails (according to the outside world's views) and Van admits finding it frustrating and hard sometimes, though he is in the end grateful for his wonderful friendship with Ellador and the intense love he feels for her. Terry is not so wise and out of frustration attempts to rape Alima. After being forcefully restrained and once again anesthetized, Terry stands trial before the women and is ordered to return to his homeland.
Van realizes that he must accompany Terry home in the biplane and Ellador will not let him leave without her. In the end then, the three leave Herland with promises not to reveal it until Ellador has returned and such a plan has been fully discussed. Van tries to prepare Ellador for returning to his world but feels much trepidation about what she will find there.
and defining it is a central theme in Herland, and Gilman seems to be saying that gender is socially constructed rather than something definitive and unchangeable. For instance, the women of Herland are loving mothers, yet are also strong, independent, and, in some ways, have masculine (as the outside world would call them) qualities, such as having short hair. Jeff is in some ways feminine (again, in the outside world's definition of the word), as stated before, and out of the three male leads, seems least afraid of speaking his mind and showing his feelings. It is not unintentional that, when the three male characters are imprisoned by the Herlanders, their hair grows long, which Gilman does to symbolically link them to women kind. Throughout the novel, Gilman reverses the stereotypical gender roles: the women have short hair, the men have long hair; the women teach while the men learn; the women are physically stronger than the men, etc.
, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction (1990)
1915 in literature
The year 1915 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* May 3 - In Flanders Fields is written by Canadian poet John McCrae....
, written by feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a prominent American sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform...
. The book describes an isolated society composed entirely of women who reproduce via parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction found in females, where growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization by a male...
(asexual reproduction). The result is an ideal social order, free of war, conflict and domination. It first appeared as a serial in Perkins Gilman's monthly magazine Forerunner
Forerunner (magazine)
The Forerunner was a monthly magazine produced by Charlotte Perkins Gilman , from 1909 through 1916...
a magazine edited and written by Perkins between 1909 and 1916. The book is the middle volume in Gilman's utopian trilogy; it was preceded by her Moving the Mountain
Moving the Mountain (novel)
Moving the Mountain is a feminist utopian novel written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It was published serially in Perkins Gilman's periodical The Forerunner and then in book form, both in 1911. The book was one element in the major wave of utopian and dystopian literature that marked the later...
(1911), and followed with a sequel, With Her in Ourland
With Her in Ourland
With Her in Ourland: Sequel to Herland is a feminist novel written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and originally published in 1916 in Gilman's self-authored and edited periodical The Forerunner...
(1916). It was not published in book form until 1979.
Plot summary
The story is told from the perspective of Vandyk Jennings (Van), a student of sociologySociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
who, along with two friends (Terry O. Nicholson and Jeff Margrave), forms an expedition party to explore an area of unchartered land where it is rumoured lives a society consisting entirely of women. The three friends do not really believe the rumours as they are unable to conceive of how human reproduction could occur without males. The men speculate about what a society of women would be like, each guessing differently based on the stereotype of women which he holds most dear, Jeff regarding women as things to be served and protected, Terry viewing them as things to be conquered and won.
When the explorers reach their destination, they proceed with caution, hiding the biplane they arrive in and trying to keep themselves hidden in the forests which border the land. They are quickly found by three young women who they realize are observing them from the treetops. After attempting to catch the girls with trickery, the men end up chasing the young women towards a town or village. The women outrun them easily and disappear among the houses, which, Van notes are exceptionally well made and attractive. After meeting the first inhabitants of this new land, which Van names Herland, the men proceed more cautiously, noting that the girls they met were strong, agile and completely unafraid. Their caution is warranted because as the men enter the town where the girls disappeared, they become surrounded by a large group of women who march them towards an official looking building. The three men attempt an escape but are swiftly and easily overpowered by the large group of women and eventually anesthetized.
The men awake to find themselves held captive in a fortress-like building. They are given comfortable living accommodations, clean clothes, and food. The women assign each man a tutor who teaches the men their language. Van makes many notes about the new country and people, commenting that everything from their clothing to their furniture seems to be made with the twin ideals of pragmatism and aesthetics given equal consideration. The women themselves appear intelligent and astute, unafraid and patient, with a notable lack of temper and seemingly limitless understanding for their captives. The women are keen to learn about the world outside and question the men eagerly about all manner of things. Often Van finds himself having difficulty justifying the practices of his own society such as the milking of cows, the keeping of dogs as pets, and abortion, when faced with the apparent utopia the women have managed to build.
After being held captive for a number of months the men break out of the fortress and escape cross-country to where they left their biplane. Finding it sewed inside a large fabric covering they are unable to get away and are resignedly recaptured by the women. They are treated well nonetheless and soon learn that they will be given a freer rein when they have mastered the women's language and proved they can be trusted. Van remarks upon Terry's personal difficulty in dealing with the women who steadfastly refuse to conform to his expectations of how women should act, though Jeff seems perfectly enamored of the women and their kindness.
Van gradually finds out more and more about the women's society, discovering that most of the men were killed 2,000 years ago when a volcanic eruption sealed off the only pass out of Herland. The remaining men were mostly slaves who killed the sons of their dead masters and the old women, intending to take over the land and the young women with it. The women fought back however and killed the slaves. After a period of hopelessness at the impending end of their race, cut-off from the rest of the world and without any men, one woman among the survivors became pregnant and bore a female child. Remarkably this happened a further four times. The five daughters of this woman also grew up to bear five daughters each. This process rapidly expanded their population and led to the exaltation of motherhood. Ever since that time the women had devoted themselves to improving their minds, working together and raising their children; the position of teacher being one of the most revered and respected positions in the land.
As the men are allowed more freedom, each strikes up a relationship with one of the women they had first seen upon their arrival, Van with the one called Ellador, Jeff with Celis, and Terry with Alima. Having had no men for 2,000 years the women apparently have no experience or cultural memory of romantic love or sexual intercourse. As such, the couples' budding relationships progress with some difficulty and much explanation. Terry in particular finds it hard to adjust to being in a relationship with a woman who is not a 'woman' in his terms. Eventually all three couples get 'married', although the women largely fail to see the point of such a thing and as they have no particular religions the ceremony is more pagan than Christian.
Their marriages cause the men much reflection, the women they married have no conception of what being a wife or being feminine entails (according to the outside world's views) and Van admits finding it frustrating and hard sometimes, though he is in the end grateful for his wonderful friendship with Ellador and the intense love he feels for her. Terry is not so wise and out of frustration attempts to rape Alima. After being forcefully restrained and once again anesthetized, Terry stands trial before the women and is ordered to return to his homeland.
Van realizes that he must accompany Terry home in the biplane and Ellador will not let him leave without her. In the end then, the three leave Herland with promises not to reveal it until Ellador has returned and such a plan has been fully discussed. Van tries to prepare Ellador for returning to his world but feels much trepidation about what she will find there.
Major themes
GenderGender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
and defining it is a central theme in Herland, and Gilman seems to be saying that gender is socially constructed rather than something definitive and unchangeable. For instance, the women of Herland are loving mothers, yet are also strong, independent, and, in some ways, have masculine (as the outside world would call them) qualities, such as having short hair. Jeff is in some ways feminine (again, in the outside world's definition of the word), as stated before, and out of the three male leads, seems least afraid of speaking his mind and showing his feelings. It is not unintentional that, when the three male characters are imprisoned by the Herlanders, their hair grows long, which Gilman does to symbolically link them to women kind. Throughout the novel, Gilman reverses the stereotypical gender roles: the women have short hair, the men have long hair; the women teach while the men learn; the women are physically stronger than the men, etc.
Literary significance and reception
“An important feminist work, long forgotten, and recently published for the first time in bookform.” – David PringleDavid Pringle
David Pringle is a Scottish science fiction editor.Pringle served as the editor of Foundation, an academic journal, from 1980 through 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective which founded Interzone in 1982...
, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction (1990)
Publication history
- December 1915, The ForerunnerForerunner (magazine)The Forerunner was a monthly magazine produced by Charlotte Perkins Gilman , from 1909 through 1916...
(magazine) - April 1979, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Pantheon BooksPantheon BooksPantheon Books is an American imprint with editorial independence that is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.The current editor-in-chief at Pantheon Books is Dan Frank.-Overview:...
, ISBN 0-394-73665-6 (trade paperback) - March 1986, Great BritainGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, The Women's Press, ISBN 0-7043-3840-8 (paperback) - May 1992, Great Britain, The Women's Press, ISBN 0-7043-3840-8 (trade paperback)
- July 1992, United States, Signet BooksNew American LibraryNew American Library is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948; it produced affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works, as well as popular, pulp, and "hard-boiled" fiction. Non-fiction, original, and hardcopy issues were also produced.Victor Weybright and Kurt...
, ISBN 0-451-52562-0 (paperback) collection: Herland and Selected Stories - September 1998, United States, Dover PublicationsDover PublicationsDover Publications is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward Cirker and his wife, Blanche. It publishes primarily reissues, books no longer published by their original publishers. These are often, but not always, books in the public domain. The original published editions may be...
, ISBN 0-486-40429-3 (trade paperback) - November 2001, Great Britain, The Women's Press, ISBN 0-7043-4700-8 (trade paperback)
- June 2008, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, LibriVox, audio (MP3) - June 2008, United States, Project Gutenberg, #32, ebook)
See also
- MizoraMizoraMizora is an utopian novel by Mary E. Bradley Lane, first published in 1880–81, when it was serialized in the Cincinnati Commercial newspaper. It appeared in book form in 1890. Mizora is "the first portrait of an all-female, self-sufficient society," and "the first feminist technological...
- New AmazoniaNew AmazoniaNew Amazonia: A Foretaste of the Future is a feminist utopian novel, written by Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett and first published in 1889. It was one element in the wave of utopian and dystopian literature that marked the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.-The plot:In her novel, Corbett...
- Separatist feminismSeparatist feminismSeparatist feminism is a form of radical feminism that holds that opposition to patriarchy is best done through focusing exclusively on women and girls...
- Sultana's DreamSultana's dream"Sultana's Dream" is a classic work of Bengali science fiction and one of the first examples of feminist science fiction. This short story was written in 1905 by Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain, a Muslim feminist, writer and social reformer who lived in British India, in what is now Bangladesh. The word...
- Feminist science fictionFeminist science fictionFeminist science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction which tends to deal with women's roles in society. Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society constructs gender roles, the role reproduction plays in defining gender and the unequal political and...