The Marriage Union in Herland

As a female reader, I must be frank and admit that Herland left me with mixed emotions.  The second half of this book slaps us in the face with a three-couple wedding - in a society where the women clearly get off well on their own, who would have guessed that they would even consider it?  In the beginning of the novel, Somel and Zava talk to the three men about their observations of fatherhood in animals.  Zava says, "'of course we see, with our birds, that the father is as useful as the mother, almost.  But among insects we find him of less importance, sometimes very little.  Is it not so with you?'"  After a vague answer from Terry, she goes on to say, "'we have cats...the father is not very useful'" (41).  From what the women have seen, fathers play a very small role in the raising of a child. Later on in the novel, the men hint that it is mostly the women that raise the children in their country. Since having and raising children is the core value in Herland, what benefit could they possibly see in reestablishing a bi-sexual race?

In coming to terms with this plot twist, I had two distinct feelings: one, that the women should be allowed to marry without concern, for being in a relationship doesn't make any one of them weaker as a character (just as in reality); two, that the women's actions and desire for marriage fall into the stereotypical expectations of a woman (particularly in the 20th century).  It is clear that the women truly have no real need for men in their society, but they seem to prefer to have the men given the opportunity.  As a reader, this feels like a step back from Gilman's initial intention of this novel. The addition of the marriages seems to take away from Gilman's initial statement in this story: that women can be independent and create just as good of a society as men can - if not even better. While some "good" did come out of this plot twist - such as Alima finally standing up to Terry and not looking back once - I do not feel that this was a vital part of Herland's story.  To discuss the topic of women's view of relationships, I feel that Gilman could have simply written a separate story.


Reference:


Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Herland. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2015. Print.