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Alima
One of the three young women the men meet when they first arrive in
Herland. Alima is attracted to Terry and eventually marries him. Terry and Alima
have a stormy relationship, which ends badly when Terry tries (unsuccessfully)
to force himself on Alima soon after their wedding. Like all the women of
Herland, Alima is strong and self-confident and would never consent to an
unequal relationship with a man.
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Celis
One of the three young women the men meet when they first arrive in
Herland. Celis and Jeff are drawn to one another and later marry. Celis is
mild-mannered and kind, but she is puzzled by Jeff’s courtly insistence on
treating her as if she were weaker than she actually is. In general, however,
they are happy, and Celis becomes the mother of the first “fathered” child in
Herland’s 2,000-year history.
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Ellador
One of the three young women the men meet when they first arrive in
Herland. Ellador is the most intellectually curious of the group. The
relationship between Ellador and Van is the most successful of the three
couples, as it is based on a close friendship and mutual respect. Ellador takes
a great interest in the world beyond Herland, convinced that there must be good
in the world of men, despite the testimony of Van and Jeff. When Van and Terry
are forced to return home, Ellador agrees to accompany them, motivated by love
of Van, curiosity about the world, and a desire to act as Herland’s
representative.
Read an
in-depth analysis of Ellador.
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Vandyck Jennings
One of the three explorers who discover Herland, and the novel’s
narrator. A sociologist by training, Van is the “philosopher” of the group—the
one who understands Herland most fully and critically—and the one who is most
convinced that Herland has much to teach the outside world. Van has some
difficulty adjusting to a society in which women are simply “people” and not a
protected and constrained “weaker sex,” but once he makes the shift, Van sees
the revolutionary implications of such a change more deeply than do his
friends.
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Jeff Margrave
One of the three explorers who discovers Herland. A doctor and a
botanist, Jeff is also a southern gentleman, with refined, romantic notions of
idealized femininity, notions that are strongly challenged by the athletic,
independent women of Herland. Jeff falls in love with Celis and puzzles her with
his insistence that he take care of her, rather than simply treat her as an
equal partner. Jeff soon comes to prefer Herland to any country on Earth, though
his appreciation of Herlandian culture is tinged with his generally unrealistic,
idealized vision of womanhood.
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Terry Nicholson
One of the three explorers who discovers Herland. Terry is the
driving force behind the expedition to Herland and the most forceful of the
three friends. A classic male chauvinist, Terry fancies himself quite the
ladies’ man and prides himself on his knowledge of and control over the female
mind. Convinced that women like to be “mastered” both emotionally and physically
by men, Terry is completely flummoxed by the women of Herland, who don’t need
men at all. Terry is unable to relate to women as equals, and this inability
dooms his relationship with Alima.
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Moadine
One of the older women who tutors the three men in the ways of
Herland. Moadine is charged with guiding Terry, a difficult task she approaches
with a great deal of patience. Terry is convinced that he has Moadine
outsmarted, but Van sees that Moadine is humoring Terry as she would a small
child, concealing her amusement at his conceited ways.
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Somel
One of the older women who tutors the three men in the ways of
Herland. Somel is a wise and knowledgeable guide to the history and customs of
Herland. As she teaches Van, Somel is also gathering information from him
regarding his own society. Though Van often sugarcoats or omits the truth, Somel
is able to cut through his obfuscation and build an accurate—and ugly—picture of
the modern world.
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Zava
One of the older women who tutors the three men in the ways of
Herland. Zava deals with Jeff in particular, and she reminds him of one of his
aunts.
