Herland story

novel: Herland (1915) · 1915 · Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The book describes an isolated society composed entirely of women, who reproduce via parthenogenesis. The result is an ideal social order: free of war, conflict, and domination.

24 total · 5 choice · 5 major · 14 minor

Theme	Level	Motivation
female empowerment	choice	The men, Terry in particular, was astounded that women could organize a well-functioning society.
female-only society	choice	A trio of male explorers discovered an isolated land populated entirely by women who reproduce asexually.
nature vs. nurture	choice	The novel explores gender as a social construction.
sexism in society	choice	Terry consistently underestimated the ability of the Herland females to run an advanced society owing to his internalized view that men are superior to women. In one example of this Terry boasted that a female-only society would be very primitive prior to him, Van, and Jeff discovering Herland.
utopia	choice	A trio of male explorers discovered an isolated, female-only society that was free of war, conflict, and exploitation.
foreign point of view	major	A society of only females was seen from the point of view of three men. In one out of many examples of this, Terry was puzzled that the Herlanders only wore hats to shade themselves from the sun, unlike the women from Terry's society, who wore feathered hats to be fashionable. While on the other side of the coin, some of the more salient flaws of contemporary society were brought to light thought it being seen through the eyes of the Herlanders.
having a preconception challenged	major	The men had their conventional notions of the female sex overturned.
human vs. captivity	major	Van, Terry, and Jeff were held captive by the Herland females for a number of months, and at one point attempted a daring escape.
maternal love	major	Much was made of the Herlanders raising their daughters in loving environments.
sexually distinguished being	major	The all-female Herlanders had evolved to reproduce asexually in the aftermath of their men having perished in a volcanic cataclysm.