“The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck describes the routine life of a woman not satisfied with her married life, who focuses her attention and care on the cultivation of chrysanthemums. Throughout the course of the story, Elisa undergoes changes in mood and appearance due to an encounter with a charming and mysterious man (a tinker), who shows to appreciate her femininity.
The story is suitable for both a psychological and feminist interpretation, by been centered on the protagonist struggles to accept her role as a female. Eliza Allen symbolizes the woman attempting to escape her defined role in the society, a society ruled by a patriarchal mentality, which sees in the woman a being certainly not deserving of equal treatment.
"Her figure …show more content…
Steinbeck's protagonist expresses both male and female traits, just as the chrysanthemums she cultivates. In fact, the chrysanthemum has a strong and robust appearance though it is a tender and delicate flower. Furthermore, Elisa' frustration is clearly evident from the way the author describes her, "blocked and heavy in her gardening costume," as if she was forced into a confining role that limits her expressiveness.
"The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world. On every side it sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot."
Also, the setting of the story suggests that the rural context does not allow exchanges with the outside world, definitely increasing the sense of isolation of the poor protagonist, who is trapped in a temporal bubble in which the women's revolution has no place. Written in 1932, right after the legal right of women to vote (enstablished in 1920), “The Chrysanthemums” addresses the challenges experienced by those women who live in isolated rural environments where the achievements of the women's movement have not scratched the sexist
The story is suitable for both a psychological and feminist interpretation, by been centered on the protagonist struggles to accept her role as a female. Eliza Allen symbolizes the woman attempting to escape her defined role in the society, a society ruled by a patriarchal mentality, which sees in the woman a being certainly not deserving of equal treatment.
"Her figure …show more content…
Steinbeck's protagonist expresses both male and female traits, just as the chrysanthemums she cultivates. In fact, the chrysanthemum has a strong and robust appearance though it is a tender and delicate flower. Furthermore, Elisa' frustration is clearly evident from the way the author describes her, "blocked and heavy in her gardening costume," as if she was forced into a confining role that limits her expressiveness.
"The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world. On every side it sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot."
Also, the setting of the story suggests that the rural context does not allow exchanges with the outside world, definitely increasing the sense of isolation of the poor protagonist, who is trapped in a temporal bubble in which the women's revolution has no place. Written in 1932, right after the legal right of women to vote (enstablished in 1920), “The Chrysanthemums” addresses the challenges experienced by those women who live in isolated rural environments where the achievements of the women's movement have not scratched the sexist