Elisa Allen In The Chrysanthemums By John Steinbeck

“The Chrysanthemums” is a story written by John Steinbeck which revolves around the main character Elisa Allen and reveals the relationship between Elisa and her husband, Henry. The writer explains that by communicating with other people, we can grow in the society. The main conflict in the story is that Elisa is not allowed to live a public life as compared to her husband. She is supposed to live a homebound life. This conflict implies that Elisa is expected to remain at home and subordinate to her husband, her occupational choices were limited and had to repress her sexual feelings. Elisa was expected to remain home and take care of her husband and farm. The author describes Elisa as wearing heavy shoes, gloves, a printed dress and an apron …show more content…
Elisa was not satisfied with her husband. When Tinker comes to Elisa for work, first she refuses to give him work. But when he shows his interest in the flowers, Elisa finds him interesting. He flirts with Elisa just to get some work. As their conversation goes on, Elisa feels that Tinker is a person who can understand her. She “removes her gloves” which means she starts to trust him and removes the barriers that were blocking her freedom (Steinbeck). She talks to Tinker in an intimate way. When they are sitting and talking, she touches Tinker on his leg purposely and then feels embarrassed. Moreover, in the text Tinker says to Elisa that she should live like women. He tells her that she is beautiful and should wear beautiful dresses. Listening to him, Elisa goes inside the inside the house and did the same to look beautiful. These expressions show that Elisa was not happy, represses the feminity and her sexual desires in her married