Gender Inequality In The Chrysanthemums By John Steinbeck

There are several underlying themes throughout The Chrysanthemums, but the ultimate theme is gender inequality and the oppression of women in society. This short story by John Steinbeck is about a thirty-five-year-old woman named Elisa who has an intense love for gardening. Although she is a great and extremely capable gardener, she is forced by her husband to apply her skills only on the tasks that are dictated to her role as a woman in society. As a result of this, she is forbidden from helping him with the farm’s harvest for the season. Steinbeck uses several other examples in addition to the one above to show how gender inequality can lead to extreme frustration and disappointment in a woman. First, the theme of gender inequality and oppression is clearly evident through the way Elisa is treated by her husband. The first sentence of the story says “The …show more content…
As previously mentioned, Elisa is only allowed to garden the chrysanthemums. Although she loves gardening, being dictated exactly what to do by her husband causes her a great deal of frustration because she knows she is capable of doing more. She channels her frustration by over-powerfully gardening and putting a great deal of effort into growing the chrysanthemums. Her work ethic is evident by Elisa’s husband saying to her “You 've got a gift with things. Some of those yellow chrysanthemums you had this year were ten inches across.” (Steinbeck 1003). Growing the chrysanthemums to be this gigantic takes a superfluous amount of time and effort, which shows that she puts all of her energy into doing the one task she is allowed to do. In a way, she is doing the best she can to prove to her husband and society that women are capable of executing more than the simple tasks they are given. She is also saying that women should be treated equally as men, and should not be oppressed in any