Herland: The Use of Character Development In the novel Herland author Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses character development, plot, and symbolism to reflect the prevailing prejudices of the suffrage period. Herland is a visit to an island inhabited by a community of women under the rule of the New Motherhood (replaces male-oriented ideals). In this book Charlotte Perkins Gilman portrayed an all-female society in which the women are able to serve each other and their daughters (produced through parthenogenesis) without anyone being "sacrificed" in the process. Herland is a child-centered society of mothers in