Ever thought of a place where only men live? How about a place where only women live? Charlotte Perkins Gilman ended this thinking when she published her novel in 1915, entitled "Herland." A utopian place where only women and girls live, no men at all. What do you imagine to happen in a place full of women, undeveloped society and competitions? or perhaps, sisterhood and nunnery? Gilman 's novel will help us learn what is like to live in a place full of women.
It all started with the mere pursuit of knowledge. Three classmates and friends, Terry Nicholson who was good at geography and meteorology; Jeff Margrave who was a botanist and a poet at heart, and lastly, Vandyck Jennings, our narrator who was a sociologist.They all joined a scientific
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Through him, Gilman was able to point out the difference of her ideal Herland and America itself. The patriarchal society fails to put responsibility to women other than giving them labels of being a housewife, caging them up with the chances of achieving their full potential as human beings. This gave the three men with the assunption that these women of Herland are those of the submissive type and that Herland is a chaotic place with all the female constantly trying to be on …show more content…
While the men wanted the women of Herland to be feminine enough, those who are the submisdive type and wants to be mastered, the women of Herland wanted to be treated equally, an idea which was not taken into mind and resulted to different consequences. Terry and Alima ended up in bad terms resulting to the expulsion of the three men wherein Jeff chose to stay. On the other hand, Jeff, who is a chivalric man always wanted to protect Celis in any ways possible, while Van eventually accepted Ellador and all the other women as the other half of men that comprises the society. Gilman wanted to point out that, if women were given the chance in the society ruled by men, each and every woman will grow as a strong and self-reliant individual equivalent of a man 's.
Another them that can be contributed to Herland is the great respect towards motherhood and to the children. Herland women 's greatest duty to fulfill is to bear and give birth to a child and that children are very much important and valuable. With this, Herland women has an option to either give birth or not and it does not matter of the child 's mother is of bad attitude because the child will not inherit it through their