Steinbeck’s "The Chrysanthemums" is a feminist text. Throughout the whole book there is a slight undertone about how Elisa is tired of her life and wants to leave her husband and the boring tedious life she leads there with him. While she is a somewhat strong woman‚ what with helping around on the farm‚ it still seems like she is eager to get away from it all and have an adventure. The story begins with discussing how good of a gardener Elisa is‚ and how proud she is of her garden. Gardening is usually
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The Chrysanthemums Feminist Lens The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck shows the world in the perception of women during a period of time where they held little power‚ were contained and weren’t as valuable as men. The protagonist Elisa is contained within her house and her garden. This is shown when the author says “like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot.”(112) also the fence in Elisa garden represents a barrier between her and the outside world. Elisa is shown as
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Name Professor Course Date: Chrysanthemums: Literary Criticism At the turn of the 20th century‚ women were considered inferior to men: they were only required to stay at home‚ take care of households and children. “The Chrysanthemums”‚ as told by John Steinbeck‚ is a story of a woman during that period who tries to change the course of her destiny. In this story‚ the two-fold issues of femininity and symbolism play a critical part in explaining this helplessness. Steinbeck uses the narrative
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time. Although they live well‚ and Elisa has found joy in creating her Chrysanthemums‚ it is not enough to make her forget that she is not truly happy. Elisa learns to live like this‚ and she has settled for this for many years‚ but after one day seeing the kind of life that is really made for her‚ she is left with deep sadness when she realizes the life she wants is not a life for her. Elisa has conformed to her Chrysanthemums‚ and to her husband even living a life more fulfilling then her. Although
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The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck has been labeled as a feminist story for its commentary on patriarchy and feminine self expression in the time of the story. This story highlights a strong woman’s attempt to break out of the shackles she has lived in for all of her life. The story comments on and symbolizes gender roles‚ female sexuality and character development. The Chrysanthemums is shaped by the common gender roles that is present in society. When the main character‚ Elisa‚ is first introduced
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In the early 1900’s‚ farm families do not go into town every day. Therefore‚ they do not have much interaction with the public. Hence‚ Henry and Elisa Allen spend the majority of their time tending to the farm. In the John Steinbeck story‚ The Chrysanthemums‚ he tells of a lonely‚ hardworking farm wife‚ who is seeking attention‚ and wonders what life could be like outside of the valley‚ but decides to settle for the country life she currently lives. To begin‚ Henry and Elisa live in Salinas Valley
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The Chrysanthemum: A Feminist Perspective Rebecca Pietron South University Online In John Steinbeck’s story The Chrysanthemum‚ the story is about a strong and intelligent woman who enjoys working in her garden. The main character in the story is Elisa Allen‚ who works in her garden everyday and she plants beautiful chrysanthemum’s every year. Elisa’s garden is protected by a wire fence that keeps cattle‚ dogs‚ and chickens away. (Steinbeck‚ 1938 Pg 376) Her husband is very pleased with her
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Nessa Arr. November 1‚ 2010 Literary Analysis of The Chrysanthemums John Steinbeck’s 1937 story “The Chrysanthemums” depicts women as typical housewives back in the 1930’s only being allowed to cook‚ clean and mother. Elisa‚ who is the protagonist and the dynamic character in this story‚ is the typical women for this time period but rather than mothering‚ Elisa uses her need for power and strength in gardening. Gardening isn’t necessarily Elisa’s passion although in the story she claims she has
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Feminist literary criticism Throughout the years‚ women have struggled for proper treatment and life style. They were oppressed and seen a male property. They were deprived for their simplest rights‚ even putting their thoughts into words. This situation led to the emergence of feminism‚ which is a set of ideologies that were meant to defend women’s rights in different areas of life‚ in other words it is the struggle for women’s rights. This set of ideologies‚ feminism‚ extended into
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A comparison between A Rose for Emily and The Chrysanthemums 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. The main characters of those two stories both are women. Emily is the protagonist of A Rose for Emily and Elisa is the most important character in The Chrysanthemums. Both of them are isolated with outside—Emily always stays in her big mansion; and
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