Very Different Story Studies on the Fiction of Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Almost all Gilman's work asserts optimistically the possibility for utopian change, yet ironically she is probably most widely celebrated for her darkly tragic story The Yellow Wallpaper. The focus of this essay collection is Gilman's utopianism. Her best-known and critically addressed novel is Herland, and several contributors revisit it in order to deepen our understanding of the complexity of Gilman's utopian vision. The lesser-known Moving the Mountain - deserving of more attention than it has received - is the subject of a full essay, and other essays explore utopian ideas in Gilman's short stories.

Janet Beer is Professor and Head of English at Manchester Metropolitan University Bridget Bennett is a lecturer in the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick Anne Cranny-Francis is Associate Professor in English and Cultural Studies at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia Chris Ferns teaches English at Mount Saint Vincent University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia Val Gough is lecturer in English at the University of Liverpool Amanda Graham is a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Hull Mary A. Hill is a Presidential Professor of History at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania Ruth Levitas is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Bristol Jill Rudd is a lecturer in English at the University of Liverpool Alex Shishin is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Literature, Kobe Women's University, Japan Anne Tanski teaches English at the Allegheny Campus of the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh