Book Description 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 was first published in monthly installments as a serial in 1915 in The Forerunner, a magazine edited and written by Gilman between 1909 and 1916, with its sequel, With Her in Ourland beginning immediately thereafter in the January 1916 issue. The book is often considered to be the middle volume in her utopian trilogy; preceded by Moving the Mountain (1911), and followed by, With Her in Ourland (1916). It was not published in book form until 1979. (wikipedia.org) Customers Review: Hard on the heels of finishing the course on utopias and dystopias, I decided to tackle Herland, a book I’d been intending to read for decades. To my delight it wasn’t nearly as earnest and didactic as I would have expected a feminist utopia of the early 20th to be. Rather it was gently humorous and even-handed, suggesting that it is not so much a utopian vision, but a suggestion that in the relations between the sexes we can do a whole lot better without going to extremes.The story has a classic utopian structure of outsiders “discovering” a previously unknown country where everyone lives in peace and prosperity. Three men, who represent specific types, hear about this land of women and resolve to find it. There’s the narrator, Van, who is a social scientist, and who approaches women as equals, Southern gentleman, Jeff, who puts women on pedestals, and the “man’s man” (read jerk) Terry, whose increasing anger and frustration at not being able to “master” these women leads to an intolerable act of violence.Gilman’s utopian vision is classic also in the sense that the country is far from perfect, and that much of the second half of the book is taken up with the romance between Van, and Ellador, one of the women of Herland, suggests that in the end, utopia is finding someone who completes you, challenges you, supports you, and who is as interested in you and your world as you are in theirs.
As the fantasy storyline was before its time when released, this novel is an interesting take on the convergence of a utopian female society with regular alpha society that hasn’t changed enough yet, as laid out plainly here. It’s not for everyone, and it definitely has one overriding political view espousing the nature of motherhood as savior, but it is well written, well read, and entertaining.Written so long ago, it’s most interesting feature is the author’s focus on sex and sexual politics still at work in its various forms today. It emerges as an interesting snapshot of how little we have grown as a society, though it has an entertaining way of getting there.
Of course one has to have a moment of suspension of belief to accept the concept of their motherhood in a society without men, but what a great work on how men view women, their supposed adoration for the ‘weaker’ sex, yet at the same time, their disgust for the very ideal of women they created. Would a society of only women evolve into a near perfect civilization which strives together for the benefit of the whole, that evolve so they think in terms of ‘we’ instead of ‘I’? A national identity so intuned, so benevolent that every thought of every person was the advancement of every generation to reach a higher ‘goodness’. The creation of a perfect culture which has conquered almost every problem faced by modern society, would a community of women separated from any contact with men be able to create that…interesting concept and fascinating reading when put in a fictional story of three men, one a macho blockhead, another a soft idealist and finally the anthropologist who stands as the man in the middle. How would these three very different men survive in such an accomplished society? Great story. Word of warning, there is an abrupt ending, leading of course into a sequel, so prepare oneself for that. Also, it is helpful to remember this was written by a woman who died in the 1930s. Society was indeed different then than now, but surprisingly not as much as one would think.
In my quest to read or reread some of the classic books, my second attempt was this book. I found it to be very interesting. The premise, of a isolated country comprising totally of women, was thought provoking. And that these three men found it, along with their reactions to life in Herland, was sad, funny, eye-opening, and ultimately tragic in some regards.The three men were quite different in their reactions, expectations, and willingness (or unwillingness) to acclimate to this land.Written in 1915, Charlotte Gilman was able to make this book almost timeless.It was a good book and a good read. Now onto my next classic book.
I bought this book for my granddaughter. I read this book in the 80s and it still haunts my memory. A truly unique story of outrageous possibilities that applies even today. It is thought provoking, even more so in our “modern” times.
This looks like someone retyped the story from their actual legitimate copy and sold illegally printed editions. I needed it for class and I’m afraid to use it because it feels so wrong. It’s my fault for not noticing it’s 8.5 x 11inches in size but… Dang. |
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