Elisa Allen is first portrayed as a woman who can take on any job as well as any man but in the end, becomes a woman of submissive femininity. The plot revolves around her journey of realization and conversion to femininity, which conclusively, labels her as a dynamic protagonist.…
In the novel, women play a significant role as they are featured in every scene of the story. However their roles can be defined negatively for they are portrayed as weak and as possessions of men. Steinbeck displays many different women who are displayed from a man’s perspective in a sexist era.…
Firstly, Elisa Allen is described and presented in a very masculine manner. The words “strong”, “a man’s black hat” and “heavy leather gloves” showcase the masculinity. Additionally, her features described as, “her face was eager and mature and handsome……over-powerful.” lend substance to her masculinity. Interestingly, this description of Elisa is in stark contrast to the societal perception of females in that era who are meant to be more feminine. The fact that she is she is thirty five years old and has no children also de-emphasizes her femininity. However, this presentation of masculinity augurs well with her acuity for business which is demonstrated in her interest in knowing more about the conversation of her husband, Henry Allen with the men in business suits. Also, her negotiation skills with the tinker showcase the business acuity of Elisa that has gone unnoticed by Henry. The societal norms have dictated that she carry out her role as a gardener with penchant. As a result, Elisa devotes all of her energy to maintaining her house and garden. Although she rightly brags about her green thumb, Elisa’s connection to nature seems rather coerced and not something that comes as naturally as she claims. She knows a great deal…
In many ways the roles of woman were just kept as being housewives or mothers in charge of managing the children while the men tended to the fields or to the factories to provide for their families. And both Hemingway and Steinbeck tend to portray woman similarly, for example it can be seen in “The Chrysanthemums” and “Hills like white Elephant”. In the short story “The Chrysanthemums” the main protagonist Elisa was shown at the beginning of the story tending to her garden as a man in a wagon came upon her farm. At first she was irritated by the man but when he asked about the Chrysanthemums she was…
Flawless skin, small waists, the unattainable idea of perfection. The idea that a woman should be the icon of feminine beauty, a brainless robot that’s great at housework and pleasing their husband. has lasted through generations upon generations, and even continued in the 1930s, when The Great Depression was reeking havoc on everyone’s lives. Instead of letting equally smart women work along side of men to bring the stocks up, they were still told to stay home and be the mothers and wives that they should. This idea continued into Steinbeck’s famous book, Of Mice and Men. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck subtly reiterates his belief that white men are superior to every other race and gender. In my opinion, the misogynistic portrayal of Curley’s…
To fully appreciate literature, we must look at it from every angle possible. There are many ways to criticize a piece of literature. Each way helps a reader to better understand the work in its own different way. I hope to outline and give examples of the many different ways that the short story The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck can be interpreted.…
Both the stories through their unique writing style focus on Feminism during the mid 19th century. Both John Steinbeck and Sinclair Ross through their story are focusing on their main character’s frustration with their marriage, their sense of isolation from the world and their hidden desire to express themselves as a woman. In a sense both authors focus on the “unsatisfied lifestyle” of their main characters. “The Chrysanthemums” and “The Painted Door”, when approached from the archetypal viewpoint of “unsatisfied lifestyle” have comparable characters, symbols and plot. The main character of “The Chrysanthemums” and “The Painted Door” are comparable from the archetypal viewpoint of “unsatisfied lifestyle”. Elisa Allen, the main character of “The Chrysanthemums” and Ann, the main character of “The Painted Door” both live an unsatisfied…
She enters the house to freshen up before going out to dinner with Henry. She puts on her finest outfit, "which was the symbol of her prettiness". This also, is a symbol of her femininity. Henry sees her and is stunned by her beauty and femininity. He says, "You look so nice!" She tenses up and asks for what he means by it, his definition of nice. He goes on to say, "I don't know. I mean you look different, strong and happy." She is eyes widely interested in this and asks "What do you mean 'strong'?". He is taken aback by her response. Henry was just trying to compliment her and she still would not allow him to enter her heart, almost as if he has offended her with his praise. As they continue their way to dinner, Elisa discovers something quite tragic to her. She sees her treasured chrysanthemums discarded on the side of the road as if a pile of unimportant garbage. She is distraught at the sight of them lying there mercilessly. She is brought to tears as she realizes that they surely mean nothing- symbolic to her self-worth. The repairman had only saved the pot, which was of far more value to him. The poor flowers are left to wilt and die, unable to survive on the side of the road. Sadly, that is such the case of her identity. She pulls up her coat collar to hide her tears, in which she cries; handling the situation with the weakness of a woman, rather than the strength of a male. Her strength has no match now. She will always be a female at the root no matter how strong it appears…
through his characters; Elisa, Henry, and the tinker. The story takes place in a later time when woman did not have many rights. Elisa would stay at home to clean, cook, get the clothing together and prepare the bath ready each day for her husband while Henry left home to tend to his working duties. In many ways Elisa's jobs have stuck with woman to this day. In our society woman have more right. Both, men and woman, work all day and come home to sometimes work even more. However, even though the woman has been working just as hard some men come home expecting food to…
She isn’t gentle with flowers, instead using scissors to “destroy the pests.” Elisa also cleans the house from top to bottom, with “hard-polished windows” and a “clean mud mat on the front steps.” Elisa conforms to her feminine obligations but isn’t as feminine and gentle as she is expected to be. Elisa’s husband, Henry, also believes in those feminine roles she’s expected to fulfill. He notes how she has a “gift with things” but it only “works on flowers.” He also ends the conversation and dismisses her when he goes on to speak to some men about business matters. Henry doesn’t think that it’s right for a woman to be involved in business and should only be a housewife. Later on, Elisa asks her husband about the fights in town when driving, and he stops the car, surprised that she read about them. The other main character, the tinkerer, also believes Elisa shouldn’t do things usually reserved for men. When he tells her about how he sleeps in a wagon and constantly travels,…
In the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’, Curley’s Wife is one of the many microcosms of American Society represented in the 1930s. In the award-winning book, John Steinbeck provides many different aspects to the world he was living in at the time he wrote the novel: dreams, hopes and loneliness to name a few, all channelled through different negative mentalities: prejudice, racism and sexism. Curley’s Wife was the one character Steinbeck used to get his point across about sexism with. She is not a complex character, however a ‘significant figure’ may be a better fitting word for the cause. In my essay, I will be giving my opinion on Curley’s Wife’s presentation by Steinbeck; if it presents dislike and/or sympathy, and if so, with how much.…
Henry and Elisa Allen live on a cattle ranch in the Salinas Valley and it is here that Elisa relishes in her flower garden. Elisa, dressed in a man’s old hat, clod hopper shoes, figure print dress that she covers with a blocked apron, and a pair of leather gloves, is busy with her chrysanthemums, while Henry is busy…
Feeling weak and powerless, Elisa unconsciously demonstrates the characteristics of masculinity in order to assimilate into a world not of a woman. For instance, she dresses in clothes that are too big for her feminine features and wears her husband’s huge hat which covers her soft womanly features. Therefore, all of her tools and gardening were, to her, considered “powerful” and strong. In lines 27-29, Elisa is clearly mimicking the power displayed the men talking in the shed (her husband and two men) “She looked down toward the men by the tractor shed now and then. Her face was eager and mature and handsome; even her work with the…
In John Steinbeck's “The Chrysanthemums” Elisa Allen shows how women are being oppressed and trapped in a man's world. Steinbeck does a good job developing the theme over the course of the story. Steinbeck uses many symbols to get his point across. In the first paragraph the theme is displayed when the narrator states the Salinas Valley is like living in a closed pot. A few paragraphs later the chrysanthemum flower is used as a symbol to display the theme. Finally, Elisa's clothes are used to show the reader how women are being oppressed. These ideas help the reader understand what the theme of the story truly is.…
This story is centered on the main character Elisa Allen. Elisa is unhappy and frustrated with her position in life, and she is struggling to establish masculinity in any way that she can. Her character is first introduced as “blocked and heavy”, with clodhoppers, heavy gloves and a man’s black hat. Her face is described as “eager and mature and handsome.…