Feminism in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's utopian novel "Herland" (PDF)

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2018 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 3,0, University of Salzburg, language: English, abstract: The goal of this paper is to demonstrate Charlotte Gilman's personal view on feminism, and her realisation of feminism in the utopian novel "Herland". This feminist utopian novel is one of the last texts that belong to the early- twentieth- century wave of feminism.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a feminist and a Progressive Era public intellectual whose concern were the struggles of the women of her time. She questioned the hierarchical structures and the division of power, labor, and discourse. Her desire was to create a world in which men and women are equally autonomous selves and live together as humans.

Here, she stressed that women needed attention as their economic, social, and cultural retardation hindered human progress. Her writings are significant reminders of the patriarchal world in which women were suppressed by the power of men. Gilman believed that marriage and the arrangement of the nuclear family as well as domesticity were the main reasons for women's oppression.

According to her, women were seen only as a sexed group that was subordinated by men. Not only did she search for the roots of this subordination, but also focused on education with the goal of creating a humane and nurturing environment. Basically, she wanted to achieve changes regarding marriage, home, the education of children, and women's work.