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the chrysanthemums The Chrysanthemums was a short story written by John Steinbeck in 1937. This short story was about a pretty yellow flower. John Steinbeck did
Chrysanthemums And Its Symboli "The Chrysanthemums" and Its Symbolism John Steinbeck uses symbolism to give alternate meanings to his short story "Chrysanthemums."
Chrysanthemums And Its Symboli "The Chrysanthemums" and Its Symbolism John Steinbeck uses symbolism to give alternate meanings to his short story "Chrysanthemums."
chrysanthemums The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck Often times, we go through life feeling confused, lost, and sad. Living life through various facades grows weary
The Chrysanthemums Analysis of Character and Setting: "The Chrysanthemums" John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums" shows the true feelings of the main character, Elisa
Submitted by aqueousboi04 on September 25, 2007
Category: English
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The Chrysanthemums
Most readers who analyze Steinbeck's short story, "The Chrysanthemums", feel Elisa's flowers represent her repressed sexuality, and her anger and resentment towards men. Some even push the symbolism of the flowers, and Elisa's masculine actions, to suggest she is unable to establish a true relationship between herself and another. Her masculine traits and her chrysanthemums are enough to fulfill her entirely. This paper will discuss an opposing viewpoint to this usual analysis. Instead, it will argue that Elisa's chrysanthemums, and her masculine qualities are natural manifestations of a male dominated world. Pertinent examples from "The Chrysanthemums" will be given in an attempt to illustrate that Elisa's character qualities, and gardening skills, are the survival traits she's adopted in order to survive, and keep her femininity and vulnerability in a man's world.
The first evidence that supports this conclusion is the behavior which occurs between Elisa and her husband, Henry. There is a "deeply rooted dysfunction between Henry and Elisa, [which is] a lack of real communication" (Palmerino, 1). They are "successful" farmers, but it is Henry who tends the economic production. The opening sets up a character contrast which runs throughout the piece by showing Henry selling thirty head of beef, while Elisa grows "beautiful" chrysanthemums. The contrast is that of the differences between a masculine and a feminine perspective of each other. This shows a limiting of Elisa from a man's point-of-view. Henry tells Elisa that she has a way with growing things, but he feels she is only contributing in an aesthetic way. In other words, Elisa is made to feel that her contribution isn't as worthy as a man's even though the insult is hidden in Henry's compliment to her. However, since the compliment is coming from a man who doesn't have a liberal attitude towards women, because he is the breadwinner, the praise is scaled down to...
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