Chrysanthemums

In John Steinbeck’s “Chrysanthemums” he hauntingly weaves a tale of repression. He explores creative, sexual and feminine repression that are all felt poignantly by his main character Elisa Allen. Although Elisa is described as strong we learn that she appears to be quite the opposite and spends her days feeling vulnerable and frustrated. As the story opens Elisa is working in her flower garden, tending her beloved chrysanthemums. Elisa encounters an old man in a dilapidated spring wagon who comes to their place looking for work. During their conversation the sexual repression is evident through their joking and her desperate flirting with him and her subsequent violent shower to cleanse herself; the creative and feminine repression is shown through her almost desperate pride in her demonstrated ability to grow beautiful flowers, like her chrysanthemums, but not being able to use her talent for other projects such as working in her husband’s apple orchard, as she is not taken seriously. Elisa Allen is the main character in the story “Chrysanthemums”. “She was thirty-five. Her face was lean and strong and her eyes were as clear as water.” Elisa is a proud, passionate and hard working woman who devotes her time to her flower garden because that is where she is most noticed. Her husband Henry says to her: “’At it again,’ he said. ‘You’ve got a strong new crop coming.” She is also lonely and frustrated from being ignored and underappreciated. The sexual repression she feels is shown several times during her conversation with the old man in the wagon. “She was kneeling on the ground looking up at him. Her breast swelled passionately.” “Kneeling there, her hand went out toward his legs in the greasy black trousers. Her hesitant fingers almost touched the cloth. Then her hand dropped to the ground. She crouched low like a fawning dog.” Although she immediately feels ashamed of their conversation and bathes quickly to cleanse herself the sexual frustration is clear. In