Herland Blog 2

Herland is a story about four men that travel to a society of only women for scientific purposes.  As they first encounter the women and learn about their language and way of life, they struggle to accept that women have strength and are civilized without men.  This story has aspects of both romanticism and realism throughout it.  One of the many ideas of Romanticism and the aspect that is shown in "Herland" is the emphasis on nature and feelings.  The author of the story goes into great detail about the nature surrounding the society and the community that the women live in.  From the very beginning of the book, she constantly describes the surroundings of the men.  She describes the forest in great detail when they first arrive, saying that many of the plants were edible and the trees could be used to build strong, long-lasting structures.  Gilman goes on to describe the city as they enter it and the feelings that they experience when they first meet the group of women.  As the story continues, the reader is able to track how the character's feelings towards the women change at a rapid pace as they learn more and more about their society.

Realism is also found in the story.  Realism is different from Romanticism in that the author tries to portray the lives and situations of the characters as realistically as possible by adding more details and descriptions.   Gilman constantly does this by going into great detail about the interaction between the men and the women, especially when the men first encounter the women in the city.  Gilman adds many detail during this situation to allow the reader to feel like they are the character and are also experiencing it.  She also thoroughly describes the women and their society as the men see it when they first arrive.  The descriptions of the women and their lives is very different from what the men were expecting, and therefor are having trouble accepting the fact that women could be civilized and strong as well.  They struggle with this concept throughout the book, but quickly develop a sense of respect for the women.