John Steinbeck’s short story, “The Chrysanthemums,” establishes an explicitly ironic and dismal tone towards female empowerment in society through the contradictory characterization of Elisa and her duality as both a strong, independent woman, and a wife who is constantly being socially oppressed by the world around her. Steinbeck reinforces this idea through constant, selective detailing of the environment surrounding Elisa, and the inclusion of symbolic visual imagery throughout the text. Throughout “The Chrysanthemums,” Elisa’s characterization is developed in such a way that is all but feminine; she is constantly referred to as a “lean and strong” woman, with a “blocked and heavy” figure and robust frame. In addition, she is also often
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For example, when Elisa talks to the Tinkerer, the narrator transitions from using honourable, powerful words to describe her, to words with subservient and compliant connotations. Elisa’s strong, squatting stance transitions to a position of kneeling, which symbolizes her transformation from being a dominant force to a subservient one. This new characterization is solidified when the narrator begins to compare Elisa to a “fawning dog,” which further degrades Elisa’s status, both in the eyes of the Tinkerer and the audience. Throughout this interaction, the narrator uses negative, demeaning words to describe Elisa’s actions, such as “hesitant” and “ashamed,” both of which reinforce Elisa’s newly adopted obedience, and illustrate the narrator’s diminishing tone of admiration towards Elisa. This struggle between Elisa and her own identity (which shifts from being inherently masculine to traditionally feminine), as well as the introduction of an ironic, sympathetic tone by the narrator, is further exemplified in Elisa’s interaction with her own husband, when she becomes offended when he describes her as “strong,” a descriptive word once often associated with Elisa’s character. Not only does the narrator develop …show more content…
For example, in the beginning of the story, the narrator describes the valley the characters live in as a “pot”, and the heavy fog that hovers over the land as its “lid.” Through this imagery, the narrator symbolizes the continually growing character of Elisa, as well as the idea of feminism, as a pot, and the opposition created by the men in the story and by society as the “lid,” which exists solely to manage, oppose, and oppress the advancement of the former. This bleak reality is enforced through the narrator’s use of words with negative, dreary connotations to describe the setting, such as “dark,” “black,” “pale,” and “cold.” Collectively, such word choice helps develop the narrator’s desolate, somber, and mournful tone, which also further accentuates the irony and bleakness of Elisa’s situation; though seemingly empowered and independent, Elisa falls victim to the same gender roles and archetypes as any other member of society. “The Chrysanthemums,” narrator relies on an increasingly ironic, dismal, and doleful tone towards female empowerment in society in order to illustrate the conflict between a woman and the social expectations thrust onto her. Through the contradictory characterization of Elisa as superficially empowered, yet actually subservient,
For example, when Elisa talks to the Tinkerer, the narrator transitions from using honourable, powerful words to describe her, to words with subservient and compliant connotations. Elisa’s strong, squatting stance transitions to a position of kneeling, which symbolizes her transformation from being a dominant force to a subservient one. This new characterization is solidified when the narrator begins to compare Elisa to a “fawning dog,” which further degrades Elisa’s status, both in the eyes of the Tinkerer and the audience. Throughout this interaction, the narrator uses negative, demeaning words to describe Elisa’s actions, such as “hesitant” and “ashamed,” both of which reinforce Elisa’s newly adopted obedience, and illustrate the narrator’s diminishing tone of admiration towards Elisa. This struggle between Elisa and her own identity (which shifts from being inherently masculine to traditionally feminine), as well as the introduction of an ironic, sympathetic tone by the narrator, is further exemplified in Elisa’s interaction with her own husband, when she becomes offended when he describes her as “strong,” a descriptive word once often associated with Elisa’s character. Not only does the narrator develop …show more content…
For example, in the beginning of the story, the narrator describes the valley the characters live in as a “pot”, and the heavy fog that hovers over the land as its “lid.” Through this imagery, the narrator symbolizes the continually growing character of Elisa, as well as the idea of feminism, as a pot, and the opposition created by the men in the story and by society as the “lid,” which exists solely to manage, oppose, and oppress the advancement of the former. This bleak reality is enforced through the narrator’s use of words with negative, dreary connotations to describe the setting, such as “dark,” “black,” “pale,” and “cold.” Collectively, such word choice helps develop the narrator’s desolate, somber, and mournful tone, which also further accentuates the irony and bleakness of Elisa’s situation; though seemingly empowered and independent, Elisa falls victim to the same gender roles and archetypes as any other member of society. “The Chrysanthemums,” narrator relies on an increasingly ironic, dismal, and doleful tone towards female empowerment in society in order to illustrate the conflict between a woman and the social expectations thrust onto her. Through the contradictory characterization of Elisa as superficially empowered, yet actually subservient,