An Ironic Author

The story Herland is written from the point of view of Vandyck Jennings, one of three young men to crash land in a nation full of women. As Jennings reveals characteristics of the land and describes the strong, capable, and solely female presence that exists there, one reading would most likely believe the author is either Jennings himself or some other male who would see a land of females in such way. But as the story continues, Jennings point of view, especially in comparison to those of Terry Nicholson and Jeff Margrave, becomes extremely understanding of such a maternal and feminine way of life. After reading about the far too manly Terry and the far too kind Jeff, one realizes that Jennings himself is much to perfect of a man. Jennings describes himself through his words and the actions he takes as almost a female himself. In fact his tutor mentions the funny fact to him after his first interaction with a large group of inhabitants in the land as a somewhat "teacher" of world history.

These traits that Jennings possesses and the way in which he is able to grasp exactly what the women in the land believe and accept can be better understood by readers when you look at the front cover of the book. The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a woman. After realizing the gender of the author the irony behind the story and the greater message Gilman is trying to get across becomes much clearer. Jennings is in fact a woman, of course not physically in appearance to his friends, but in mind he is due to his creator as a character. Gilman uses Jennings to show the medium between two strong, polar opposite personalties of males. Jennings goes on to receive the best acceptance in return from the women, becoming very popular and succeeding in a relationship with Ellador. Therefore, with Gilman using Jennings's character and his frequent successes to reveal her own thoughts and self, she portrays what she believes are the right choices and actions a man should take in society.