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With Her in Ourland is the third book in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's utopian trilogy which begins where Moving the Mountain and Herland left off. Gilman masterfully compares our real modern male dominated world with an imaginary perfect society comprised of only woman. Gilman was a well known and deeply respected sociologist and this trilogy holds an important place in feminist fiction.Tags
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The 1916 sequel to Herland (2nd and 3rd in a trilogy) A heartbreaking look at treatment of women and children in most countries vs Herland with focus on the US. She provides many solutions for democracy and women's rights. While some things have improved for women since this book, on the whole, society's treatment of women, minorities, children and the poor really hasn't made much advancement in 100 years.
The edition which I read had a long introduction (over 50 pages out of a book of 200 pages) by Mary Jo Deegan, and was edited by Deegan and Michael R. Hill. However, there were no notes within the text itself. I was interested in reading the novel by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and did not pay much attention to the introduction.
With Her in Ourland is a sequel to Gilman’s novel, Herland, in which three American men visit an imaginary place inhabited only by women and girls. Van (Vandyke Jennings) marries Ellador, one of the women there, and in this book brings her to Ourland, the world as we know it. There is very little plot. The book is primarily a discussion between Van and Ellador about the social conditions on earth, particularly in show more the United States. This discussion tends to get tedious; sometimes it even includes statistics. Although the text was originally published serially in 1916 during World War One and before American women had the right to vote, many of the conditions explored in the book are still problems today. These include the inequality of women to men, the unequal distribution of wealth with some very powerful rich people and many people so poor that they cannot live in healthfully, the misuse of natural resources, and war. During their time in Ourland Van and Ellador live more more in a brother/sister relationship than as a married couple. show less
With Her in Ourland is a sequel to Gilman’s novel, Herland, in which three American men visit an imaginary place inhabited only by women and girls. Van (Vandyke Jennings) marries Ellador, one of the women there, and in this book brings her to Ourland, the world as we know it. There is very little plot. The book is primarily a discussion between Van and Ellador about the social conditions on earth, particularly in show more the United States. This discussion tends to get tedious; sometimes it even includes statistics. Although the text was originally published serially in 1916 during World War One and before American women had the right to vote, many of the conditions explored in the book are still problems today. These include the inequality of women to men, the unequal distribution of wealth with some very powerful rich people and many people so poor that they cannot live in healthfully, the misuse of natural resources, and war. During their time in Ourland Van and Ellador live more more in a brother/sister relationship than as a married couple. show less
Herland was interesting as a sociological utopian novel. This sequel, however, strips out the utopian part as the narrator and his Herland-native wife travel the globe before coming back to America. Unfortunately, the story and plot are all but non-existent as Ellador sees more and more of the world outside her perfect society, and the book becomes a mouthpiece for Gilman's critiques of American society, economics, race relations, and gender roles. While never moving fully into manifesto territory, With Her in Ourland is still preachy and vaguely condescending.
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First published in 1916
68 works; 4 members
Author Information
142+ Works 14,735 Members
Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born in 1860 in Hartford, Conn. Her traumatic childhood led to depression and to her eventual suicide. Gilman's father abandoned the family when she was a child and her mother, who was not an affectionate woman, recruited relatives to help raise her children. Among these relatives was Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author show more of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Due to her family situation, Gilman learned independence, but also became alienated from her many female relatives. Gilman married in 1884 and was soon diagnosed with depression. She was prescribed bed rest, which only seemed to aggravate her condition and she eventually divorced her husband, fearing that marriage was partly responsible for her depressed state. After this, Gilman became involved in feminist activities and the writing that made her a major figure in the women's movement. Books such as Women and Economics, written in 1898, are proof of her importance as a feminist. Here she states that only when women learn to be economically independent can true equality be achieved. Her fiction works, particularly The Yellow Wallpaper, are also written with feminist ideals. A frequent lecturer, she also founded the feminist magazine Forerunner in 1909. Gilman, suffering from cancer, chose to end her own life and committed suicide on August 17, 1935. More information about this fascinating figure can be found in her book The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: An Autobiography, published in 1935. (Bowker Author Biography) Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born in 1860 in Hartford, Conn. Her traumatic childhood led to depression and to her eventual suicide. Gilman's father abandoned the family when she was a child and her mother, who was not an affectionate woman, recruited relatives to help raise her children. Among these relatives was Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Due to her family situation, Gilman learned independence, but also became alienated from her many female relatives. Gilman married in 1884 and was soon diagnosed with depression. She was prescribed bed rest, which only seemed to aggravate her condition and she eventually divorced her husband, fearing that marriage was partly responsible for her depressed state. After this, Gilman became involved in feminist activities and the writing that made her a major figure in the women's movement. Books such as Women and Economics, written in 1898, are proof of her importance as a feminist. Here she states that only when women learn to be economically independent can true equality be achieved. Her fiction works, particularly The Yellow Wallpaper, are also written with feminist ideals. A frequent lecturer, she also founded the feminist magazine Forerunner in 1909. Gilman, suffering from cancer, chose to end her own life and committed suicide on August 17, 1935. More information about this fascinating figure can be found in her book The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: An Autobiography, published in 1935. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- With Her in Ourland
- Original publication date
- 1916
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Science Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 813.4 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English Later 19th Century 1861-1900
- LCC
- PS1744 .G57 .W5 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 19th century
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 78
- Popularity
- 404,354
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.21)
- Languages
- English, French, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 23
- ASINs
- 1
