Herland

“It looked—well, it looked like any other country—a civilized one, I mean.”

While Herland is traditionally recognized for its feminist themes, the novel also contains a satirical depiction of racism. This arises through the three male characters’ overt racism and their consistent distinctions between the concepts of civilization and savagery.

“Here was evidently a people highly skilled, efficient, caring for their country as a florist cares for his costliest orchids. Under the soft brilliant blue of that clear sky, in the pleasant shade of those endless rows of trees, we walked unharmed, the placid silence broken only by the birds.”

This description of the setting serves two purposes. First, it contains literary devices, including imagery and sensory language, to help the reader form a mental image of the Herland town. Second, it supports the utopian genre of the text. This is demonstrated through the attractive and functional design of the land and by the fact that the men have not been met with violence despite their status as invaders, which demonstrates that the women of Herland are a peaceful race.

“In all our discussions and speculations, we had always unconsciously assumed that women, whatever else they might be, would be young. Most men do think that way, I fancy.”

The men’s expectation that the women in Herland would be younger reflects the idea that women are objectified and valued only for their sexual availability. It also satirizes the prevalent bias against middle-aged and older women, who are perceived as sexually undesirable or unavailable.

“And then and there, willy-nilly, before we had satisfied our appetites, our education began.”

The Herlanders’ top priority is education. This is first demonstrated in their immediate knowledge-sharing with Van, Terry, and Jeff, and later revealed through their social design, in which the education of children and the dissemination of knowledge are key features.

“It’s because of their advanced age. They’re all grandma’s, I tell you—or ought to be. Great aunts, anyhow.”

Terry’s character is symbolic of overt sexism. He values women according to his sexual interest in them and their sexual interest in him. The Colonels have no sexual interest in him and are not young enough to sexually interest him, so he consistently devalues and degrades them despite their kindness.

“But when she spoke of our women—someway I had a queer little indescribable feeling, not like any feeling I ever had before when ‘women’ were mentioned.”

Van has an uncomfortable reaction when Somel says the Herlanders want to hear about the women in the rest of the world. Van’s reaction suggests that he knows women are treated unfairly under the patriarchy. His character arc is based on his shifting opinions of women and the patriarchy—he begins the novel as feeling scientifically justified in his bias against women, and his experience with the Herlanders changes his perspective so that he no longer views women as inherently intellectually inferior.

“It took some time to make clear to these three sweet-faced women the process which robs the cow of her calf, and the calf of its true food; and the talk led us into a further discussion of the meat business. They heard it out, looking very while, and presently begged to be excused.”

Gilman alludes to the violence in the industrialized food practices that emerged in the US in the 1800s and continued to develop through the 20th century. Instead of industrializing their food systems, the Herlanders developed a nonviolent vegetarian food system. Their tree-based agricultural system provides a balanced diet, produces ample food, and benefits the environment. This contrasts with factory farming, which is based on growing mass quantities of a few types of food and requires mass confinement and slaughter practices.

“Little by little they wrung from us the fact that the friend of man, in the city, was a prisoner; was taken out for his meager exercise on a leash; was liable not only to many diseases but to the one destroying horror of rabies; and, in many cases, for the safety of the citizens, had to go muzzled.”

Through comparisons of Herland with the outside world, Herland alludes to and satirizes numerous inefficient and ethically questionable practices. Here, Gilman targets the irony in dog ownership—humans, and men in particular, claim to love dogs, but they overbreed them, kill the females, and confine those they keep, and then continue to breed them largely without consideration of disease susceptibility or temperament. The conditions result in relatively high levels of aggression toward both humans and other dogs. Gilman’s message becomes the idea that, if people love dogs, they should adjust their breeding and caretaking practices.

“Here at last was Motherhood, and though it was not for all of them personally, it might—if the power was inherited—found a new race.”

Gilman addresses the concept that not all women want to be mothers in the clause “it was not for all of them personally.” Although Herland culture is based on the importance of motherhood, it does not require that all women make good mothers or that they want to be mothers. This line develops the theme of A Society Founded on Motherhood.

“We have no laws over a hundred years old, and most of them are under twenty.”

Moadine’s explanation satirizes the US government and legal system, which is based on aged, traditional laws and the concept of judicial precedent. Through this brief remark, Gilman suggests that a legal system with fresh relevant laws is more logical and practical than retaining a legal system based on tradition.

“He never seemed to recognize that quiet background of superiority. When she dropped an argument he always thought he had silenced her; when she laughed he thought it tribute to his wit.”

Terry, who is representative of extreme stereotypical masculinity, feels superior to Moadine and the other women of Herland, which symbolizes the devaluation of women within the patriarchy. This line also characterizes Terry as oblivious and arrogant.

“They had early decided that trees were the best food plants, requiring far less labor in tilling the soil, and bearing a larger amount of food for the same ground space; also doing much to preserve and enrich the soil.”

The agricultural methods reflect the Herlanders’ practicality and their nonviolent society. This line is also satirical, as it addresses multiple issues with real-world agriculture, such as soil degradation and high labor costs, whether physical or financial.

“We had expected them to be given over to what we call ‘feminine vanity’—‘frills and furbelows,’ and we found they had evolved a costume fore perfect than the Chinese dress, richly beautiful when so desires, always useful, of unfailing dignity and good taste.”

The clothes, which are described multiple times in Herland, are symbolic of the Herlanders’ practicality, and they portray implicit satirical criticism of traditional women’s attire in the real world. The men assume that eye-catching adornments are an inherently feminine trait, but the practicality of the Herlander clothes negates this idea, which suggests that stereotypically feminine attire is a result of the patriarchy.

“We thought of them as ‘Women,’ and therefore timid; but it was two thousand years since they had had anything to be afraid of, and certainly more than one thousand since they had outgrown the feeling.”

This quote alludes to the idea that women’s most significant safety concern is men. Without the threat of violence from men, the Herlanders have lost their fear of the opposite sex. This line also portrays the men’s sexist bias, as they had believed that they could easily control the women.

“Of course, in a bi-sexual race the distinctive feature of each sex must be intensified. But surely there are characteristics enough which belong to People, aren’t there?”

The question Somel poses to Van doubles as a rhetorical question for the reader. By suggesting that men and women share human characteristics, Gilman refutes the commonly held assumption at the time that women are inherently inferior to men or that there are characteristics inherent to any gender. She demonstrates that men and women are both people.

“What I’m trying to show here is that with these women the whole relationship of life counted in a glad, eager growing-up to join the ranks of workers in the line best loved; a deep, tender reverence for one’s own mother—too deep for them to speak of freely—and beyond that, the whole, free, wide range of sisterhood, the splendid service of the country, and friendships.”

Van’s ability to comprehend and relate the values and culture of Herland improves as he settles in and begins to feel at home in the country. He often uses synopses, or short summaries such as this, to efficiently describe Herland. Here, he focuses on their senses of motherhood and sisterhood and the deep love and warmth this creates within their community.

“The big difference was that whereas our children grow up in private homes and families, with every effort made to protect and seclude them from a dangerous world, here they grew up in a wide, friendly world, and knew it for theirs, from the first.”

The childhood experiences within Herland and the outside world are juxtaposed—Herland offers a safe and secure environment where children can roam free, and the outside world is a dangerous environment, so children must be secluded for their safety. This contrast acts as satirical commentary about the lack of social safety within the US in the early 1900s. It also implicitly suggests that the patriarchy is the source of the danger.

“They knew less than we do. If we are not beyond them, we are unworthy of them—and unworthy of the children who must go beyond us.”

Gilman satirizes the concept of respecting the past and upholding traditions, which have long been significant features of culture in the US and in other technologically advanced cultures. She implies that a forward-looking culture is more logical because it makes more sense to base culture off the expanding pool of knowledge.

“Here we were, penniless guests and strangers, with no chance even to use our strength and courage—nothing to defend them from or protect them against.”

This line satirizes marriage within the patriarchy; it implies that the patriarchy creates conditions in which women are encouraged to marry for their safety. It also implies that, outside of patriarchal conditions, women have little to no incentive to marry men.

“The differences in the education of the average man and woman are great enough, but the trouble they make is not mostly for the man; he generally carries out his own views of the case. The woman may have imagined the conditions of married like to be differed; but what she imagined, was ignorant of, or might have preferred, did not seriously matter.”

Gilman criticizes that married women are expected to conform to their husband’s life and desires, as well as criticizing education available to women. In Herland, the roles are reversed—Van, Jeff, and Terry must initially conform to their wives’ expectations; however, with time and proper communication, Jeff and Van form mutual understandings with Celis and Ellador.

“The big point at issue between us and our wives was, as may easily be imagined, in the very nature of the relationship.”

Rather than using explicit language, Gilman alludes to the mismatch in sexual expectations between the women and men. Given the time period that the novel was written and published, overt sexual language would have been considered inappropriate and offensive, likely leading to the rejection of the novel.

“I see now clearly enough why a certain kind of man, like Sir Almroth Wright, resents the professional development of women. It gets in the way of the sex ideal; it temporarily covers and excludes femininity.”

Gilman references Almroth Wright, an immunologist from Britain who worked actively against the first wave feminist movement. That Van empathizes with those who believe women should remain professionally limited shows that he is still strongly influenced by the patriarchy.

“When Terry said SEX, sex with a very large S, he meant the male sex, naturally; its special values, its profound conviction of being ‘the life force,’ its cheerful ignoring of the true life process, and its interpretation of the other sex solely from its own point of view.”

Terry represents extreme patriarchal masculinity. By describing Terry in this way, Gilman scornfully criticizes patriarchal masculinity as self-centered and prejudiced against women. Though Terry’s behavior is the most extreme of the men, Gilman subtly suggests that his behavior might also be the most accurate representation of a man of the time placed in a country like Herland by using words like “naturally.” Terry behaves exactly as Van would expect an average man to behave.