A Very Different Story Studies on the Fiction of Charlotte Perkins Gilman

In 1890 a poem entitled Similar Cases appeared in the USA in The Nationalist. In it, one of that country's best-known utopian writers, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, propounded the over-arching theme that was to concern her until she died in 1935: that mankind and the world can be changed for the better. The poem earned her much praise in nationalist circles and marked the beginning of a reformist career which was to last for 45 years, during which time Gilman established a national reputation as a speaker on women's issues and socialism, writing extensively in these areas while at the same time continuing to write poetry, short stories and novels.