ELISA

Steinbeck’s ‘’The Chrysanthemums’ is about a proud and resilient woman, Elisa Allen, who is frustrated with her life. Her inability to conceive a child and her husband’s failure to love her are major issues in her family. The flower garden is her only distraction from all her marriage issues. In the garden, she tends lovely chrysanthemums. “Chrysanthemums’ symbolizes Elisa’s and every other woman’s inner-self. Chrysanthemums symbolize Elisa 's children. She cultivates her garden and takes care…

In the short story “The Chrysanthemums” and the novel Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrays two women and their lives on Salinas ranches during the great depression who are trapped as a result of their gender. In “The Chrysanthemums”, Elisa is married to Henry, who makes her feel fenced off by making gardening her whole world. In Of mice and Men a women, a women only known as Curley’s wife is also fenced off by her selfish, and aggressive husband. Both of the women that Steinbeck portrays lead a…

character. In John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums," the shift of the setting from the ranch to the road plays a crucial role in the development of the main character, Elisa. I will be writing about how the setting helps us understand Elisa more. The Setting reveals something about Elisa that the story doesn’t tell us. I think that Elisa connects with the garden because she sees that her plants are very strong, and she feels that she is also…

between different aspects if it were to show no importance. In “The Flowers”, the relationship between elements of nature and the main character, Myop, exposes her growth of maturity as the plot continues. The protagonist of “The Chrysanthemums”, Elisa, is similar to a speciously irrelevant component of the story as well. The commonalities demonstrate herself as a person, how others view her, and how she views herself. Throughout both short stories, “The Flowers” and “The Chrysanthemums”,…

can be argued to show rigid gender stereotypes. At first Elisa seems happy in her role gardening (with metaphorical descriptions such as “terrier fingers” used to illuminate the energy within her) but the fact that the narrator mentions that she “watched” her husband and some men conducting business and smoking symbolises the dissatisfaction she feels in her life and the fact that she is intrigued in playing other roles. The passion Elisa shows for her gardening suggests that it is the only…

confinement. Steinbeck uses phrases such as “…fog of wind closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world,” “…closed pot,” and “lid” to represent the confinement of the characters to the rest of the world. We then meet Elisa who is working…

given authorities over females. This short story is about a woman named Elisa, who was not valued by her husband because she was a female. She was treated more like a child rather than grown up woman. Moreover, due to her husband’s negligence to acknowledge her abilities, Elisa becomes really unhappy in her marriage. Elisa was not happy in her marriage because her husband refuses to acknowledge her intelligence; because…

A short story is usually a focussed narrative that presents a few characters involved in a compelling plot (site text book). Short story writers are unique in that they do not have the luxury of describing their characters and settings at length. Instead, they rely on elements such as narration, character’s action, symbolism, and even a character’s clothing to give the reader a better understanding of the character’s personality. In short stories such as “Miss Brill,” “Everyday Use,” and…

further supported by the fiction elements character versus conflict. Elisa Allen is married to Mr. Henry Allen, a successful and somewhat affluent farmer. The story begins with Elisa working diligently in her flower garden, something I believe she does often, while her husband Henry is off to the side having what seems to be an important conversation with three tailored businessmen. After the men have left, he walks over to Elisa and invites her out to dinner and a picture show downtown to…

limitations imposed upon her by society. As Steinbeck’s character, Elisa Allen, tends her garden and interacts with the male characters in the story her annoyance and emotions from living in a male dominated world are revealed. Throughout the story Steinbeck relays the main characters feelings of isolation, dissatisfaction and oppression by her environment. Steinbeck conveys the feeling of isolation that the main character, Elisa Allen, struggles with while describing the setting. This is shown…