Herland

Diagnosed by her physician husband with a “temporary nervous depression - a slight hysterical tendency” after the birth of her child, a woman is urged to rest for the summer in an old colonial mansion. Forbidden from doing work of any kind, she spends her days in the house’s former nursery, with its barred windows, scratched floor, and peeling yellow wallpaper. In a private journal, the woman records her growing obsession with the “horrid” wallpaper. Its strange pattern mutates in the moonlight, revealing what appears to be a human figure in the design.

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.

Through the eyes of sociologist Van, listeners are invited into a land where motherhood is revered, cooperation triumphs over competition, and progress is built on logic, compassion, and education. As the men struggle to reconcile their expectations with reality, Herland challenges assumptions about gender, culture, and what it means to be civilized. With sharp wit and revolutionary insight, Charlotte Perkins-Gilman dismantles patriarchal norms and imagines a world transformed by equality and reason.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860 -1935) was a prominent American novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and an advocate for social reform. Herland is a utopian novel from 1915 which describes an isolated society of women who reproduce through asexual reproduction. The narrator is Vandyck "Van" Jennings, a sociology student who, along with two friends, explore an area of uncharted land. The three male visitors arrive, and in due time get married to three of the women, with various sets of consequences.

Herland takes the listener on a fascinating journey into a utopian society comprised entirely of women. A society with no men also means no conflict, resulting in a war-free existence. It is a perfect world, but only if you are female. Three men set out on a journey into uncharted territory to discover for themselves if the legend of an all-female society is a myth or actually a reality. Tracking down the mythical realm of women poses plenty of challenges, but what they ultimately find is both enchanting and frightening.

Legends tell of a hidden, exotic civilization entirely populated with women. Three overly confident, and overly masculine, explorers plan to discover and overtake the land. What could go wrong?