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As I read Herland with this principle in mind, I constantly found myself attempting to draw parallels between the life Charlotte Perkins Gilman experienced and the book she created, more so than any other novel I have ever read. ... For this paper, I am really interested in focusing on these parallels by employing a little bit of research on her life and applying those discoveries to what Perkins wrote in Herland. ... Gilmans father deserted the family when she was young, leaving her mother to raise two children on her own. ...
One glaring parallel in Gilman’s life just described above and her ideals in Herland is her belief in what one could call, for lack of a better term, “the superiority of women. ... Gilman has a tendency to, when describing women or beautiful things in Herland, use very eloquent, soft, feminine words. ... When seeing the precision with which the women of Herland have created their homes and towns, Van says he had “often groaned at home to see the offensive mess man made in the face of nature (1, pg. ... In Herland, sex is not an enjoyable activity that people share with a partner. ... The conviction the women of Herland demonstrate in not sharing this act with Van, Jeff, or Terry is ultimately epitomized by the attempted rape of Alima by Terry. ...
The most interesting of all the parallels between Herland and Gilman’s own life is the role of motherhood. ... The description of motherhood in Herland, Gilman’s utopia, is somewhat troubling though and is easily problemitized. ... The concept of family and unity of the family never enters the picture in Herland and the problem of women procreating whether they are allowed to or not in order to have that family, is not a principle Gilman shares with, it is safe to say, the majority of people. Another motherhood-related viewpoint in Herland that is rooted in Gilman’s own personal life is
the concept of childrearing. The emphasis Gilman puts on raising a child and motherhood in Herland is so ironic when one looks at her own life.
Approximate Word count = 1737
Approximate Pages = 6.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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