Herland
By Charlotte Perkins Gilman
In Herland, Gilman takes a different approach: A political satire in the form of a untopian adventure story.
Her three protagonists are all male, typical wealthy explorers and adventurers that you might expect to find in the pages of something by H. Rider Haggard. And in fact, Gilman exhibits a strong command of the "Lost World" and uptopian adventure genres, writing an enjoyable fantasy tale with tight pacing, good action, and enough conflict to keep things interesting even before one examines the political aspects of her writing.
The three adventurers hear a rumor of a sheltered valley that is home to an all-female society and they set out to explore it. The narrator's motive is mainly curiosity. He is genuinely interested in the workings of this society, and he approaches the experience as a scholar. His two companions represent more extreme views. One is the typical male chauvinist, a macho "man's man" who expects to be greeted as a conquering hero as the only man in a land of women. The third member of the group has an idealistic view of women, placing them on a pedestal, but not accepting them as capable or competent.The society they find is described in excellent detail, considering the relatively short length of the novel. It is present as a superior society in the sense that one would expect for a novel to be considered utopian. The women of Herland have no poverty, no war, and almost no crime or disease. Their primary focus is on the rearing and education of their daughters, and the whole society works in concert to improve its base of knowledge and then to impart that knowledge on to the next generation.
Much of this is clearly meant to satirize modern society of the time the work was written (and it provides criticisms that remain just as valid today). But many of Gilman's ideas about education are quite well thought-out.
Gilman's women of Herland are descendants of a mutant (although that specific term is not used), capable of reproducing by parthenogenesis and having only female offspring. The author gives enough scientific and historical background to at least make the society's origins plausible in the context of a fantasy adventure novel. The three protagonists spend much of the first few chapters debating the argument that there must be men hidden somewhere before they finally come to terms with the true nature of their hosts.
From there, they embark on a path of romance and eventually marriage, all of which is condoned by the society of Herland, who are interested in the possibility of a return to a gendered society. In Gilman's sharpest bit of satire, she has the women assuming that they must be missing out on some great benefits by having only one gender in their society, even as her male characters must reluctantly admit that there is little that the outside world has to offer to Herland.
The ending follows a fairly predictable path, at least in terms of the resolution of the major plot points. There were a few interesting surprises in the course of wrapping things up.
The overall tone is witty, but never truly bitter. Even the male chauvinist character is given a sympathetic treatment, and Gilman does a good job of conveying her ideal of what a society can be if people were to treat each other well and to work toward a higher standard of education and compassion.
Rather than an outright condemnation of our society, Gilman gently reminds the reader that society could do better. And she serves it up in a story that is entertaining and amusing.
Herland was book #14 in my goal of reading 50 books in 2010.
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