Article #32-1 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from Herland, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Ellador was more than willing. But the nearer it came to our really
going, and to my having to take her back to our “civilization,” after
the clean peace and beauty of theirs, the more I began to dread it, and
the more I tried to explain.

Of course I had been homesick at first, while we were prisoners, before
I had Ellador. And of course I had, at first, rather idealized my
country and its ways, in describing it. Also, I had always accepted
certain evils as integral parts of our civilization and never dwelt on
them at all. Even when I tried to tell her the worst, I never remembered
some things--which, when she came to see them, impressed her at once, as
they had never impressed me. Now, in my efforts at explanation, I began
to see both ways more keenly than I had before; to see the painful
defects of my own land, the marvelous gains of this.

In missing men we three visitors had naturally missed the larger part
of life, and had unconsciously assumed that they must miss it too. It
took me a long time to realize--Terry never did realize--how little it
meant to them. When we say men, man, manly, manhood, and all the
other masculine derivatives, we have in the background of our minds a
huge vague crowded picture of the world and all its activities. To grow
up and “be a man,” to “act like a man”--the meaning and connotation is
wide indeed. That vast background is full of marching columns of men,
of changing lines of men, of long processions of men; of men steering
their ships into new seas, exploring unknown mountains, breaking
horses, herding cattle, ploughing and sowing and reaping, toiling at
the forge and furnace, digging in the mine, building roads and bridges
and high cathedrals, managing great businesses, teaching in all the
colleges, preaching in all the churches; of men everywhere, doing
everything--“the world.”

Explanation

**Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman**

Context of the Source

Herland (1915) is a utopian feminist novel by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a prominent early 20th-century feminist, sociologist, and writer. The novel follows three American men—Vandyck Jennings (the narrator), Terry Nicholson, and Jeff Margrave—who discover an isolated, all-female society called Herland. The women of Herland reproduce through parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction) and have built a peaceful, egalitarian civilization free from war, poverty, and gender oppression.

The excerpt comes from a later part of the novel, where Vandyck, now emotionally attached to Ellador (a Herlander woman), struggles with the idea of returning to his own society. His internal conflict reveals the novel’s central themes: the critique of patriarchal norms, the redefinition of gender roles, and the possibility of a society structured around cooperation rather than domination.

Themes in the Excerpt

Critique of Patriarchal Civilization
- Vandyck’s growing dread of returning to his own society reflects Gilman’s feminist critique of early 20th-century America. He begins to see his world—once taken for granted—as flawed, violent, and oppressive.
- The passage highlights how deeply ingrained masculinity is in his culture: "When we say men, man, manly, manhood… we have in the background of our minds a huge vague crowded picture of the world and all its activities." This suggests that "civilization," as he knows it, is inseparable from male dominance.
- The list of male-dominated activities ("marching columns of men," "exploring unknown mountains," "building roads and bridges") reinforces the idea that his society equates progress with masculinity, often excluding women from historical and economic agency.
Gender and Social Construction
- Vandyck assumes that Herland must be lacking because it has no men, but he slowly realizes that the women do not miss masculinity at all. This challenges the idea that gender roles are natural or essential.
- His observation that "in missing men we three visitors had naturally missed the larger part of life" exposes his own bias—he assumed that male presence was necessary for a functional society, but Herland thrives without it.
- The phrase "Terry never did realize" is significant: Terry, the most aggressively masculine of the three men, remains unable to see beyond patriarchal assumptions, reinforcing the idea that some men are too indoctrinated to recognize alternative social structures.
Cultural Relativism and Perspective Shift
- Vandyck’s changing perspective ("I began to see both ways more keenly") illustrates how exposure to Herland forces him to question his own society’s norms.
- His earlier "idealized" view of his homeland contrasts with his new awareness of its "painful defects." This mirrors Gilman’s argument that patriarchal societies normalize oppression, making it invisible to those within them.
- Ellador’s immediate recognition of flaws in his society ("when she came to see them, impressed her at once") suggests that an outsider’s perspective can reveal injustices that insiders overlook.
Utopian Possibilities
- The excerpt contrasts Herland’s "clean peace and beauty" with the implied dirt, chaos, and violence of the men’s world. This reinforces Gilman’s utopian vision: a society without gender hierarchy can be more harmonious and rational.
- The absence of men in Herland does not mean an absence of progress—rather, the women have redefined labor, education, and social organization without male dominance.

Literary Devices

Juxtaposition
- The passage contrasts Vandyck’s initial homesickness with his later dread of returning, showing his evolving perspective.
- The idealized, heroic imagery of masculinity ("marching columns," "exploring unknown mountains") is juxtaposed with the reality of a society that excludes and oppresses women.
Repetition and Emphasis
- The repetition of "men" ("men, man, manly, manhood") emphasizes how deeply male identity is tied to societal structures in his world.
- The phrase "I began to see" is repeated to highlight Vandyck’s growing awareness.
Irony
- Vandyck’s assumption that Herland must be missing something because it lacks men is ironic, given that the novel presents Herland as superior in many ways.
- His realization that he "never remembered some things"—flaws in his own society—shows how normalized oppression can be.
Symbolism
- The "clean peace and beauty" of Herland symbolizes the potential of a society free from patriarchal violence and exploitation.
- The "marching columns of men" symbolize militarism and male dominance, which Herland has rejected.
Stream of Consciousness (to an extent)
- The passage mimics Vandyck’s internal struggle, moving from his initial assumptions to his growing doubts in a way that feels like a thought process unfolding.

Significance of the Passage

Feminist Critique of Masculinity
- Gilman dismantles the idea that masculinity is synonymous with civilization. Vandyck’s list of male activities ("ploughing and sowing and reaping, toiling at the forge") are traditionally seen as "productive," but Herland proves that women can sustain society without men.
- The passage challenges the notion that women are incomplete without men, a radical idea for Gilman’s time.
Exposure of Male Bias
- Vandyck’s initial blindness to his society’s flaws ("I never remembered some things") illustrates how privilege obscures injustice. Only by seeing Herland does he recognize the defects of his own world.
- This aligns with Gilman’s broader argument in works like Women and Economics (1898), where she argues that women’s oppression is so normalized that even well-meaning men (like Vandyck) fail to see it until forced to confront an alternative.
Utopian vs. Dystopian Perspectives
- While Herland is a utopia, Vandyck’s world is implicitly dystopian—filled with unquestioned evils. The passage forces the reader to see familiar societal structures (capitalism, militarism, gender roles) as potentially oppressive.
- Gilman uses Vandyck’s shifting perspective to invite readers to question their own assumptions about gender and society.
The Limits of Male Reform
- Vandyck’s growth contrasts with Terry’s inability to change ("Terry never did realize"). This suggests that some men, particularly those deeply invested in patriarchal power, cannot adapt to feminist ideals.
- The passage implies that true societal change requires more than individual enlightenment—it requires systemic transformation, as seen in Herland.

Conclusion: Why This Passage Matters

This excerpt is a microcosm of Herland’s central arguments. Through Vandyck’s internal conflict, Gilman exposes the artificiality of gender roles, the violence inherent in patriarchal systems, and the possibility of a society built on cooperation rather than domination. The passage is not just about a man realizing his society’s flaws—it’s about the reader being asked to do the same.

Gilman’s genius lies in making the familiar strange: by presenting an all-female utopia, she forces the reader to see how deeply gender shapes our world—and how different (and better) things could be. The excerpt’s power comes from its quiet revelation: what Vandyck once took for granted now horrifies him, and what he assumed was missing in Herland turns out to be irrelevant. In this way, Gilman doesn’t just critique patriarchy—she imagines a world beyond it.

Questions

Question 1

The narrator’s description of his evolving perspective—"I began to see both ways more keenly than I had before"—primarily serves which of the following rhetorical functions in the passage?

A. To establish his intellectual superiority over Terry, who remains oblivious to Herland’s virtues.
B. To underscore the inevitability of cultural assimilation when exposed to a superior society.
C. To provide a neutral, anthropological comparison between two equally valid but distinct civilizations.
D. To illustrate the psychological toll of cognitive dissonance when confronted with irreconcilable worldviews.
E. To model for the reader the process of ideological unlearning, wherein deeply ingrained assumptions are destabilized by direct experience.

Question 2

The passage’s extended enumeration of male-associated activities ("marching columns of men... building roads and bridges and high cathedrals") functions most critically as:

A. A nostalgic elegy for the lost grandeur of patriarchal achievement.
B. An ironic juxtaposition highlighting the absence of these activities in Herland as a deliberate rejection rather than a deficiency.
C. A satirical exaggeration of male self-importance, undermined by the narrator’s growing skepticism.
D. A neutral catalog of historical male labor, intended to contrast with Herland’s alternative economic structures.
E. A rhetorical trap that lures the reader into identifying with the narrator’s initial bias before subverting it through his subsequent critique.

Question 3

The phrase "Terry never did realize" is most strategically placed to:

A. Foreshadow Terry’s eventual expulsion from Herland as a narrative consequence of his intransigence.
B. Serve as a comic relief valve, undercutting the passage’s otherwise solemn tone with a dismissive aside.
C. Emphasize the limits of male adaptability, suggesting that patriarchal indoctrination can be resistant even to direct counterevidence.
D. Highlight the narrator’s own moral growth by contrasting it with Terry’s stagnation.
E. Imply that Terry’s failure is a personal flaw rather than a systemic critique of masculinity.

Question 4

The passage’s treatment of Ellador’s reactions to the narrator’s society ("when she came to see them, impressed her at once") is structurally analogous to which of the following literary techniques?

A. The unreliable narrator, where Ellador’s perceptions are later revealed to be naive or incorrect.
B. The frame narrative, in which Ellador’s observations serve as a meta-commentary on the act of storytelling itself.
C. The defamiliarization effect, wherein familiar social ills are made visible through an outsider’s unmediated perception.
D. The pathetic fallacy, attributing Ellador’s shock to an exaggerated emotional sensitivity rather than objective flaws.
E. The stream-of-consciousness interruption, disrupting the narrator’s linear argument with Ellador’s subjective interjections.

Question 5

The passage’s closing contrast between the "clean peace and beauty" of Herland and the implied squalor of the narrator’s civilization is most thematically resonant with which of the following philosophical traditions?

A. Marxist materialism, in its focus on the economic bases of social harmony.
B. Rousseauian primitivism, which idealizes pre-civilizational purity as a corrective to corrupt modern institutions.
C. Nietzschean vitalism, where the "clean peace" of Herland represents a triumph of the will to power over decadence.
D. Kantian deontology, framing Herland’s superiority as a moral imperative rather than a contingent outcome.
E. Utilitarian consequentialism, measuring societal worth by the greatest happiness principle.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: E

Why E is most correct: The passage traces the narrator’s shift from uncritical acceptance of his society’s norms to a destabilized perspective, a process mirrored in the reader’s experience. Gilman uses Vandyck’s internal conflict to model how ideological unlearning occurs—not through abstract argument but through immersive confrontation with an alternative. The phrase "see both ways more keenly" signals a rupture in his worldview, inviting the reader to undergo a parallel destabilization. This aligns with feminist pedagogical strategies that prioritize experiential disorientation as a precursor to critical consciousness.