Parthenogenesis in Utopian Novels: A Comparative Study of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland and Mahsa Mohebali's The Gray Curse

Abstract

Comparative literature is considered as one of the most important fields of research in humanities, and studies on feminism and women writers from different nationalities can offer important contributions to the field. The classic novel Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is considered a pioneering American feminist work. From a comparative perspective, the Iranian novel, The Gray Curse by Mahsa Mohebali has a thematic similarity with Perkins Gilman’s novel. Both authors have portrayed a feminist utopia whose inhabitants are only women, and for whom, motherhood is fulfilled only through parthenogenesis. This similarity as well as the content and thematic correspondence are among the reasons for selecting these novels for the present study. The researchers use qualitative content analysis method within the framework of feminism to analyze these novels’ representations of the concept of Parthenogenesis through their description of a utopia. To do a comparative study of the similarities and motifs in the two narratives with a focus on the concept of parthenogenesis, the paper draws on three elements: misandry in utopian thinking at the beginning of the novels, parthenogenesis as a necessary concept in utopian thinking, and finally, moving away from the utopian thinking and a refusal of the parthenogenesis. Despite the commonality of the content and thematic elements, distinctions in political, social and cultural contexts between the two nations create a difference in Gilman's and Mohib Ali's views on the concept of parthenogenesis throughout the novel, with the former's offering more in-depth and the latter's fleeting views on the concept.

Keywords

• utopia
• parthenogenesis
• herland
• the gray curse
• mahsa mohebali
• charlotte perkins gilman