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The story is told from the perspective of Vandyck "Van" Jennings, a student of sociology who, along with two friends (Terry O. Nicholson and Jeff Margrave), forms an expedition party to research an area of uncharted land in which it's rumored resides a society consisting entirely of women. The 3 buddies do not fully believe the rumors because they are not able to think of a way how human reproduction could occur without men.

The men assume about what a society of girls would be like, each imagining differently based on the stereotype of women which he holds most dear: Jeff regarding women as things to be served and protected; Terry viewing them as things to be conquered and won. [1]

When the explorers reach their destination, they proceed with caution, hiding the biplane they arrive in, and attempting to keep themselves concealed in the forests that border the property. They are easily found by three young girls who they realize are celebrating them from the treetops. After trying to capture the girls with trickery, the guys end up chasing the young girls towards a town or village. After meeting the very first inhabitants of this new territory (that Van names Herland) the guys proceed more carefully, noting that the girls they met were strong, agile, and entirely unafraid. Their caution is warranted because as the men enter the town where the women disappeared, they become surrounded with a large group of girls who march them towards an official looking building. The 3 men attempt an escape but are swiftly and easily overpowered by the large group of women and eventually anesthetized.

The guys awake to find themselves held captive at a fortress-like construction. They are given comfy living accommodations, clean clothes, and food. The girls assign every man a tutor who teaches the guys their speech. The girls themselves appear bright and astute, unafraid and patient, with a remarkable lack of temper and seemingly limitless comprehension due to their captives. The women are eager to find out about the world out and question the men eagerly about all manner of things. Frequently Van finds himself having trouble justifying the practices of his own society such as the milking of cattle, the remaining dogs as pets, and abortion, when confronted with the apparent utopia the women have managed to build.

Locating the biplane sewn within a large cloth covering, the men are unable to get away and therefore are resignedly recaptured by the women. They are treated well nonetheless and soon learn that they will be given a freer rein when they have mastered the women's language and proved they can be trusted. Van remarks upon Terry's personal difficulty in dealing with the women who steadfastly refuse to conform to his expectations of how women should behave, though Jeff seems perfectly enamored of the women and their kindness.

Van gradually finds out more information about the women's society, discovering that the majority of the guys were killed 2,000 years ago when a volcanic eruption sealed off the only pass out of Herland. The remaining men were largely slaves that killed the sons of their dead masters and the older ladies, intending to take over the territory and the young women with it. The girls fought back, but murdering the slaves. The five daughters of this woman also climbed up to bear five daughters each. This procedure rapidly expanded their population and led to the exaltation of motherhood. Ever since that time the women had devoted themselves to improving their heads, working together and increasing their children; the position of educator being one of the most revered and respected positions in the property.

As the guys are permitted more freedom, each strikes up a relationship with one of the girls they had first seen upon their birth, Van with the one called Ellador, Jeff with Celis, along with Terry with Alima. Having had no guys for 2,000 years the girls apparently don't have any expertise or cultural memory of romantic love or sexual intercourse. As such, the couples' budding relationships advancement with some difficulty and even explanation. Terry in particular finds it hard to adjust to being in a relationship with a woman who is not a 'woman' in his terms. Eventually all three couples get 'wed', although the women mostly fail to see the point of such a thing and as they have no particular religion the ceremony is much more pagan than Christian.

Their marriages cause the men much reflection; the girls they wed have no conception of what being a wife or being female entails (according to the outside world's perspectives). Van admits finding it frustrating and hard sometimes, though he's in the end thankful for his wonderful friendship with Ellador and the intense love he feels for her. Terry isn't so wise and outside of frustration attempts to rape Alima. After being forcefully restrained and once again anesthetized, Terry stands trial before the women and is arranged to go back to his homeland. The other men, while disapproving of Terry's actions, see them as impolite rather than criminal. Van describes to Ellador, "[Crime]'s a fairly hard word for it. In the end, Alima was his spouse, you know."

Van realizes that he should accompany Terry home in the biplane and Ellador won't let him leave without her. In the long run, both Terry and Van render Herland with promises not to disclose the utopia until Ellador has returned and this type of plan has been completely discussed. Jeff nonetheless chooses to stay behind and live in Herland with his now pregnant wife, Celis. Van tries to prepare Ellador for returning to his world but feels much trepidation about what she'll find there.

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