Preview

Who Is Elisa In The Chrysanthemums

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
175 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Who Is Elisa In The Chrysanthemums
The character of Elisa in the story “The Chrysanthemums” Elisas character goes through some noticeable changes from beginning to end. In the beginning of the story, Elisas character is strong and confident. This is shown in the scene where Elisa is in her garden and is having a conversation with her husband. Moreover, Elisa also seems to have well thought out statements during her conversation. Later towards the middle of the story, when Elisa is talking to the stranger, she seems to resist him at first until he mentions the chrysanthemums, Elisa opens up and starts trusting the stranger. After this, the story is near it’s end and Elisa is with her husband on their way to a restaurant and Elisa notices the chrysanthemums she gave to a stranger
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    A Pair Of Silk Stockings And The Chrysanthemums Analysis
    • 1602 Words
    • 7 Pages

    A Pair Of Silk Stockings And The Chrysanthemums Analysis

    In both texts Mrs. Sommers and Elisa realize the establishment of limitations that society puts on them. Mrs. Sommers is a house wife and a mother, she tends to put her husband’s and children’s needs before her own. Similarly, Elisa is married and experiences her abilities being limited because her husband takes over everything except for the Chrysanthemums on the farm. I feel in both stories the women in a way envy the men and their ability to do almost everything because of their status in society. However, Mrs. Sommers recollects memories from her past to the times from which she was single and could indulge more in life when she didn’t have children to care for. I noticed this very clearly when Kate Chopin wrote, “In truth, he saw nothing-unless he were wizard enough to detect a poignant wish, a powerful longing that the cable car would never stop anywhere but go on and on with her forever” (Chopin 5). I feel Mrs. Sommers doesn’t regret anything but she realizes the difference between the two ways of life and at the same time she misses that luxury. On the other hand, Elisa is influenced by outside occurrences such as the tinker who was too quick to judge her because of her gender. When I read, “She was cutting down the old year’s chrysanthemum stalks with a pair of short and powerful scissors.…

    • 1602 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparing The Chrysanthemums And Shiloh
    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Comparing The Chrysanthemums And Shiloh

    Norma Jean is very independent, lifts weights and tries to educate herself. Both Elisa's husband and her mom do not agree with her choices about the new things she's trying. On page 575 it says, “Something is happening. Norma Jean is going to night school... She spends her evenings out-lining paragraphs” (Mason 575). She starts a English Comp class and it symbolizes her not only trying to educate herself but also re-writing her life. Both characters become more independent while their husband’s are at work. Norma Jean starts feeling trapped, and feels a loss of freedom with her husband home, and mom pushing into her personal life. The more they try to change Norma’s life, the more she gets uneasy with them. At the end of The Chrysanthemums, Elisa notices her flowers that she gave on the side of the…

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Elisa's Power In The Chrysanthemums By John Steinbeck
    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Elisa's Power In The Chrysanthemums By John Steinbeck

    Although Elisa tries to resist the pot fixer, she lets his tactics get the best of her when he continues to talk about her chrysanthemums. She gives in and finds work for him that she does not need really need done. “At the back of the house she dug in the can pile and fund two old and battered aluminum saucepans… ‘Here, maybe you can fix these’” (Steinbeck 231). At this point Elisa has lost control, and the situation is out of her…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Elisa's Point Of View In The Chrysanthemums By John Steinbeck
    • 682 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Elisa's Point Of View In The Chrysanthemums By John Steinbeck

    In the short story, “The Chrysanthemums” John Steinbeck tells the story of Elisa Allen living on a ranch in the Salinas Valley with her husband Henry. Elisa is a thirty-five year-old house wife that takes pride in growing chrysanthemums. One day while cutting down last year’s chrysanthemums her husband tells her that he has just sold thirty cattle and is going to take her out to dinner and a movie. After that, a traveling tinker stops by her house and offers to fix any pots or sharpen any knives. After a conversation with the tinker, Elisa figures out for herself that she doesn’t get to express herself very much. Elisa eventually finds something for the tinker to fix and even gives him a chrysanthemum plant for one of his other customers. She later sees that the tinker threw the plant out and that she is unsatisfied with her marriage. “The Chrysanthemums” is told in the third person point of view, but the narration is presented almost entirely from Elisa’s point of view forcing us to try and understand Elisa just as the other characters in the story do.…

    • 682 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Comparing The Vigilante And The Chrysanthemums By John Steinbeck
    • 1341 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Comparing The Vigilante And The Chrysanthemums By John Steinbeck

    Elisa Allen, of “The Chrysanthemums,” had an emptiness within herself that could never expose to the world; instead she kept it in until she no longer can. She ends up revealing her shadow to a stranger who gave her the desire she wanted. Elisa had a dream that she does not realize at first, but begins to realize it when the opportunity was in front of her. Her husband who does not share the same interest as her with her garden would only verbally supports her interest when it came that he can see and receive profit from it. Her dream is to have a husband that shows interests in her biggest hobby that is gardening.…

    • 1341 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Elisa Allen: a Mystified Identity
    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Elisa Allen: a Mystified Identity

    John Steinbeck's short story "The Chrysanthemums" is centered on the protagonist named Elisa Allen. The vivid portrayal of her character in different parts of the story makes the reader wonder who she really is. Steinbeck started by portraying her as a strong and knowledgeable gardener, with a sense of masculinity, following which she is portrayed as someone who yearns for sexual attention in her sensual encounter with the tinker, and concluded with her being described as a beautiful, feminine lady, and then back to her masculine self all within a span of a few hours. The evolution in the expressions, emotions, and the portrayal of Elisa Allen is an important element of Steinbeck’s “The Chyrsanthemums.”…

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Chrysanthemums Analysis
    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Chrysanthemums Analysis

    Obviously, the short stories—William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily and The Chrysanthemums written by John Steinbeck have something in common; but also there are some different between them.…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Literary Criticism of John Steinbeck's the Chysanthemums
    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Literary Criticism of John Steinbeck's the Chysanthemums

    One morning an energetic housewife named Elisa Henry is working busily in her garden, watching in secret interest as her husband sells cattle to another man. When a peddler drives up to her gate, she is intrigued by the peddler's lifestyle. She talks to him and he mentions chrysanthemums, and she eagerly gives him a few chrysanthemums in a bright new pot. She gives him some pots to fix and they talk about his life. When he goes on his way, she feels decidedly more powerful. She cleans and dresses herself for a date with her husband. When they are driving on the road she sees a spot that she knows must be her discarded chrysanthemum gift. She then resigns to being her old self and weeps like an old woman.…

    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    How Does John Steinbeck Create Tension In The Chrysanthemums
    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages

    How Does John Steinbeck Create Tension In The Chrysanthemums

    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…

    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Market Revolution, The Antebellum Period
    • 2448 Words
    • 10 Pages

    The Market Revolution, The Antebellum Period

    The Revolutionary War erupted many conflicts that the nation had to solve throughout its existence. The struggle for independence primarily revolved around the consequences before and after the wars collided. This Era caused Britain’s American colonies to separate from the empire (GML, Foner 175). Along with this came the 7 Year War that began when the French and Indian fought against Great Britain. After the war, the England government started taxing their own colonist for the damage. “No taxation without representation” became the colonists’ cry (Foner GML 180). The Boston Tea party was a rebellious act among the citizens due to over taxation on their tea, they spilled million dollars worth of tea into the ocean. President George Washington…

    • 2448 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Chrysanthemums Literary Analysis
    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Chrysanthemums Literary Analysis

    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,…

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Oppression In The Chrysanthemums By John Steinbeck
    • 1219 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Oppression In The Chrysanthemums By John Steinbeck

    After searching for a window into her soul, he spotted the chrysanthemums. ”What’s them plants, ma’am?” Elisa was as vulnerable as her chrysanthemums and the exasperation from the man’s annoyance quickly melted away from her handsome face. He had unlocked the door to her soul and it gave up her secrets. She was proud of her chrysanthemums and knew that she grew the largest and prettiest chrysanthemums for miles around, last year they had ten-inch…

    • 1219 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    John Steinbeck's 'Chrysanthemums'
    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages

    John Steinbeck's 'Chrysanthemums'

    delivers to the audience her thoughts and underlying emotions of being a woman in a “man’s world.” The chrysanthemums reflects Elisa’s character and her dreams of being free to grow, make decisions, free to travel, make her own money and most of all the desire to be attractive. Elisa feels closed in and secluded from the rest of the world, just as Steinbeck describes the atmosphere at the introduction of the story, “The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world” (192).…

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Chrysanthemums Symbolism
    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Chrysanthemums Symbolism

    The Chrysanthemums that Elisa Allen grows represents how her and many other women were treated during this time. Currently, the Chrysanthemums are bare and dormant with no flowers. This is similar to Elisa's life because her life is bare dormant with no excitement. Furthermore, the Chrysanthemums also show the theme by how they are grown in the valley. The narrator proclaims “There was a little square sandy bed kept for rooting the Chrysanthemums(271)”. The chrysanthemums are grown in a limited space which does not allow them to grow to their fullest potential. This resembles how Elisa and many other women are being trapped by men. Women are limited to a small space and cannot perform at their…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Who Is John Steinbeck's The Chrysanthemums: Gender Criticism
    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Who Is John Steinbeck's The Chrysanthemums: Gender Criticism

    While on the way to dinner with her husband Elisa finally realizes that she had been taken advantage of. She sees that the handy man has discarded her beloved chrysanthemums in the ditch on the side of the road. She realizes that the man used flattery of her and her flowers to get work. This realization makes her break down and cry. She then understands that she is doomed to her current role in society, a passive woman, and she hates it.…

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics