Themes

Though the utopia she creates is, because it is populated by only one gender, free of the complications of romantic love, Gilman clearly realizes that, for it to serve any useful purpose in the real world, her work must give some indication of what equitable love looks like. She takes up as an important theme, therefore, the question of what love based on mutual respect is. She develops this theme only in the latter part of the novella where she depicts the courtship of Van and Ellador. Without any hope of a typical romantic union, Van is able to develop powerful feelings for this girl on a purely asexual level; they become dear friends. When it is announced that the elders of the country have decided to engage in a "Great Experiment" and allow the three visitors to marry and reproduce with three of their citizens, Ellador and...