STRUGGLES IN FEMINIST UTOPIA: ANALYSIS OF CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN

The researcher utilized the two novels of Charlotte Perkins Gilman namely Moving the Mountain and Herland. The researcher utilized Formalistic Approach. The study drew upon the lives of the main male characters in the novels dealing with the struggles they face in the perfect society being ruled by women. In Moving the Mountain, John Robertson admits that he is having a hard time accepting the new social order but he still appreciates how these systems affect people, specifically; the children whom he sees have hope and future. In the end, he remains persistent with what he wants with the present society. In Herland, the three men Van, Jeff and Terry have a hard time understanding and accepting the principles of the Herlanders yet in the end, Van and Jeff adapt to the social structures being established by the women. Meanwhile, Terry remains frustrated and he is banished from the Herland. Their three wives, though had experienced the struggle in accepting concepts such as love, sex, marriage and home which are all new to them, have dealt those struggles differently. Ellador, who has the best relationship with Van, goes with his man to the nearby country to experience their way of living. Celis, who becomes the mother of the first "fathered" child in Herland's 2000-year history, stays with Jeff in Herland. Lastly, Alima who experienced a stormy relationship with Terry, leaves their country and stays in the highest slopes of the forest.