American Literature

    This early 20th century novel takes the reader through a fictional journey that is more akin to the wonderful world of utopia, where social setups are ideal and the system works efficiently to everyones benefits. The place is described as the land of women and referred to as Herland, where there is a complete absence of all men and the children are all girls. The story follows the narrative of Vandyck Jennings who coupled with two of his old school mates Terry Nicholson and Jeff Margrave forms the three leads in the novel casually referred to as Van, Terry and Jeff. Their urge for exploration leads them to this fabled town that exists on its own without intervention from the general population and is comprised exclusively of women and their girl children. Gilman goes on to describe how perfect this place is with no hints of war, violence or disease, the traits that plague the man-made world Van, Terry and Jeff have come from. Those three get immediately fascinated by the flowing rivers, the lack of fascination for material possessions, the environmentally conscious all-vegetarian society and the better-than-your-world sentiments that Gillman exhibits in her depiction of the place. That depiction takes a strongly suggestive narration that imparts her inclinations towards feminism throughout the novel. She is inclined towards gender education engulfing the text with the true potential of women thereby attempting to eliminate their concerns of inferiority.

Feminist Viewpoints
    Gillman depicts this fully functional world of women with no men for support in order to make one strong sweeping statement not only can women survive in a world without their male counterparts but can also thrive upon it. Her work is reminiscent of a person deeply engaged in thoughts pertaining to the inner workings of society. Her references are direct and easy to interpret. The narration embodies gender education putting the sex that is generally regarded as the weaker sex square into the limelight. She deems women to be equal to men in all aspects and is suggestive of them performing even better than men in similar surroundings. The utopian picture she depicts is immediately recognizable as enforcing a stigma against women which renders them a strict spot in society, to serve men and abide by their rules. Through Herland, Gillman urges the women to step out into other fields and shrug these rules away as their capabilities are not simply restricted to the husband. According to her, women can regulate the society better with their distinct set of characteristics of tolerance and love-for-peace in order to result in a vegetarian society, free of war and prejudice.

    Van, from whose perspective the story is being narrated, takes a keen interest in the seemingly divine way the women reproduce. It is the one real hindrance to a society devised completely of women. In the case of Herland, the women reproduce through a process known as parthenogenesis that is akin to asexual reproduction. The process of becoming pregnant on their own accorded to this reproductive genetics renders them incapable of producing male children and hence, the land only comprises girls. This quality trumps their need of men completely furthering the rather patronizing tone of the whole society. Be that as it may, the three men are so fascinated by the perfect environment that they end up offering to marry three of the women. The women accept this invitation to naturalize their environment with male influences to which they can resort to for insemination. This alleviates the patronizing tone a little so as to continue upon the two-sex norms the societies of the rest of the world are used to. The fact that the women agreed to natural impregnation at the hands of these three men serves to show how important maternity and motherhood is to them. Moreover, Gillman portrays the very act of parthenogenesis as the sole goal for each female member, further solidifying their strict priorities to family life.

     Gillman uses the three male leads rather effectively to broadcast her feminist viewpoints. What is a key factor to remember in the entire script is the date it was written. In 1915, the freedom of women was hardly as vast and accepting as it is today. Men preferred that their wives never left home so that their first and only priority was their husbands. They were considered incompetent in making workplace decisions due to their reservations of intelligence, in working for the same jobs as men due to their reservations of physical strength and even in their roles as mothers due to their reservations regarding motherhood. Thus, writing a book about those very traits completely debunks those reservations. The three men representing the outside world hold the man-less society of Herland in complete reverence as a result. They are held aback by their counterparts functioning in a complex system of economy and culture where each woman is assigned a specialist task of sowing, weaving, farming, etc while all others share the common maternal goal of mothering a child. This is simply Gillmans attempt at fixing the restricted minds of men who proclaim that women cannot share their responsibilities. When Van exclaims, The solidity of those women was something amazing (Gilman), a sense of ingenious unity is spurred in the reader with regards to women in general and that is the message Gilmans trying to invoke.

    This book carries with it an air of social reform. At the time Gilman sat down to write this particular piece, World War I had just begun. Women were fighting for equal rights as much as they were fighting for the stigma of inferiority for men. Gilman, in her complex plights of self-indulgence and depression, began engaging herself in social reformation by educating women of their capabilities and willpower. Herland was an attempt at encouraging women to think independently and harness their true potential both maternally and professionally. Her aim was to eliminate gender differences and enlighten the masses of the limitless powers of women who knew how to take a stand for themselves. It was perhaps for this very reason that she chose Van, a stereotypical male with as much an ego as a broader perspective on life, who stumbles upon the intricacies of this woman-oriented world and is fascinated by how faultless it is (Schellenbourg). When Van and his two friends do decide to stay and marry three of the women of Herland, it shows how adaptive the women are to new ideas and change as opposed to men, even though later Terry gets exiled for succumbing to his male instincts and attempt a rape.

Education on Infant upbringing
    Prior to the advent of twin sex families in Herland, the women only had daughters. Gillman depicts these children as the main purpose of existence for the women of that place, highlighting their maternal inclinations. Women are essential ingredients to the family and their instincts drive them to extreme measures to look out for the betterment of their offspring. Thus, a society comprised entirely of women would render the infant a perfect upbringing environment. The world around would be completely devoid of hatred, conflicting differences, war, gender inequalities and even meat (since its a vegetarian society, eliminating the need for the slaughtering of animals). As a result, none of the societal influences would be incorporated as personality traits for the young child. This sets out an important message as Gillman tries to educate women (and men as well) that the society is responsible for the upbringing of the child not the parents (Simone). Thus, arguably, since much of the childhood is spent in acquiring education from external sources, bad parenting can result in a seemingly misplaced child and the society can play its educational part in making up for that where as the counter side of it may also be true, since bad societal influences can be made up for by good parenting. Thus the responsibility is equally divided.

    Gillman infuses many ideas into this writing through careful analogies with the present world as it exists. Her style of portraying the story through Van depicts the need to relate with men while making such suggestions about the potential of women. Its also particularly important to take into consideration the concept of recreational sex depicted by her, as she deems it unnecessary while the men are all for it. This is indicative of the one-track minds of men who respond more to their nature than to their brain. She reinvigorates the feminist viewpoints as she points out the effectiveness with which Herland was run and in early 20th century, was not just a bold measure to take but an enlightening one as well.