ABSTRACT
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s first novel, What Diantha Did, charts its protagonist’s rise from domestic servant to the head of a diversified business that includes maid service, cooked-food delivery, restaurants, and hotels, proving to the world the social and financial benefits of “organized housekeeping.” What Diantha Did offers an essential understanding of Gilman’s important and complex legacy of social thought. In 1910 many domestics in the United States were either African Americans or European immigrants such as Irishwomen, though homes on the West Coast also often relied on Chinese immigrant help. The narrative of Diantha Bell reflects Gilman’s resolve as a young woman to enter the public sphere and earn her living, as demonstrated in her activities and her autobiography. In What Diantha Did, the author demonstrates how the professionalization of housework —while being effective, efficient, and even lucrative — also significantly releases its practitioners from the position of being subject to their employers’ whims.
