Herland

Name: Herland
Brand: Tantor Audio
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4 (2 reviews)
Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
ISBN: 9781452671741

Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Narrator: William Dufris

Unabridged: 7 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 03/28/2011

Categories: Fiction, Classic

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland, first published in 1915, is a feminist utopian novel that describes an isolated society composed entirely of women—a progressive, environmentally conscious land where peace and rationality reign and poverty is unknown. Told from the perspective of Vandyk Jennings, a male sociology student who sets out with his two friends to determine whether Herland really exists, the novel ironically and pointedly critiques the arbitrary nature of many gender norms as it highlights the irrational features of the men's society and asserts women's fundamental capacity for reason and cooperation. Herland is a landmark work of feminist thought whose themes are as vital today as they were in the early twentieth century.

About Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) was an American feminist, author, and social critic who wrote several novels, over two hundred short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Gilman spent much of her youth in Providence, Rhode Island, and was frequently in the presence of her father's family, which included Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and the famous suffragist Isabella Beecher Hooker. From 1909 to 1916, Gilman wrote and edited her own magazine, the Forerunner, in which much of her fiction appeared. Her large body of work, which examines the economic and social position of women in society, includes the semi-autobiographical short story "The Yellow Wallpaper," the feminist utopian novel Herland, the poetry volume In This World, the nonfiction work Women and Economics, and her posthumously published autobiography, The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Davida on December 11, 2018

Around a century ago, Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a well-known feminist fiction writer, including "Herland" and "The Yellow Wallpaper." Find out what I thought of this collection of her work in my review here. [URL not allowed]......more

Goodreads review by Ivie on September 08, 2023

My favorite part was when the men were shocked that a utopia of women had tons of pockets in their clothes Didn’t know “cool as cucumbers” and “hocus pocus” were used this long ago so that’s cool:)......more

Goodreads review by Becky on July 28, 2018

First sentence: This is written from memory, unfortunately. If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story. Premise/plot: Vandyck Jennings is a sociologist traveling or exploring with Terry O. Nicholson and Jeff Margrave. On one of their tri......more

Goodreads review by PB on May 17, 2015

So. I read the story online because it was assigned for one of my classes and I am a broke student. Anyway. Gilman makes a lot of good points about patriarchal language, education, and labor in her story. So in that respect, this is a great read. BUT. She situates her women's utopia in two spaces 1)......more

Goodreads review by Melissa on March 30, 2024

Gilman is a pretty well known feminist writer. Almost ahead of her time, her stories had strong female protagonists that found fulfillment through their own work, rather than living through their families (although they still pursued families at times). The most well known, is probably 'The Yellow W......more