Gender Stereotypes Essay

In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck has positioned the characters to help drive the plot, aid or hinder the protagonists, and deliver messages to readers. On the surface, Steinbeck’s novel seems to project a theme of loneliness, and man’s need for companionship. However, often the difference between the lonely and independent characters is obvious, and the contrast between the two groups is extreme. Most characters are completely alone, but how they manage their given circumstances can push the plot, reveal previously hidden traits that may benefit the overall story, and help the reader explore the novel itself more in depth.

Many readers who analyze Steinbeck's short story, "The Chrysanthemums", feel Elisa's flowers represent her repressed sexuality, and her anger and resentment towards men. Some even push the symbolism of the flowers, and Elisa's masculine actions, to suggest she is unable to establish a true relationship between herself and another. Her masculine traits and her chrysanthemums are enough to fulfill her entirely. This essay will discuss an opposing viewpoint. Instead, it will argue that Elisa's chrysanthemums, and her masculine qualities are natural manifestations of a male dominated world. Pertinent examples from "The Chrysanthemums" will be given in an attempt to illustrate that Elisa's character qualities, and gardening skills,

In the three short stories “The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, and “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, each author provides insight into the complexity of human nature through the internal struggles faced by a main character within each story. In “The Chrysanthemums” Steinbeck paints Elisa in a way that displays her lack of feminine identity, highlighting her personal sexual views of herself and ¬¬the internal struggle it creates, then in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Oates also presents a female who struggles with her sexual view of herself which we see throughout the story as Connie hides her sexuality at home but lets it run wild for the rest of the world, ultimately leading to her demise, and lastly in “Sonny’s Blues”, Baldwin introduces Sonny and the complex issues he goes through as his brother doubts his

When her husband Henry had commented about her strong chrysanthemum crop, Elisa is pleased by the manliness the word implies but her husband reminds her of her femininity by offering her an evening on the town to celebrate the big business deal he had done. After this conversation with her husband, she goes back to her masculine role of transplanting the flowers. Loneliness takes a role from the start on how Elisa is lonely just for the simple fact that she 's a woman trapped in a world of men. Steinbeck displays loneliness with "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 (704)." While adding the fact that the men do business and Elisa is settled to attend the house it makes a pretty strong sense of solitude. This is soon coming to a change once a man knows as the tinker disrupts her usual solitude. It is when her isolation is broken that the story truly begins to unfold.

Elisa Allen is a lonely woman who enjoys growing and nourishing her chrysanthemums. Since her husband is always working the cattle in their farm, she never has enough attention or any kind of affection. The result of this dispassionate marriage leads Steinbeck to describe his main character as follows, "Her face lean and strong…Her figure looked blocked and heavy in her gardening costume, a man's black hat pulled low…clod-hopper shoes…completely covered by a big corduroy apron…" (Page 206-207) This neglect from her busband causes her to turn to her

In John Steinbeck’s novel, of Mice and Men, there are a multitude of motifs that corresponded with the real life problems they were facing in that day. Reoccurring elements in this narrative include the predatory nature of human existence, corruption of women, loneliness and companionship, and the different kinds of strengths and weaknessses.

The story concerns the unhappy marriage, which appears to be a theme in many of Steinbeck’s short stories, and the psychological effects this has primarily on the wife, Elisa Allen. The central character, Elisa, is appealing to many readers and scholars alike, because of the depth of her persona. Elisa is introduced to us in a less than feminine fashion which can be seen as a hint at oppression of women in

Steinbeck uses Elisa’s clothing to symbolize her masculinity as well as her isolation from the outside world in order to reveal how society’s standards cause women to become frustrated with the opportunities

American Literature has always been about men and for men. In this essay, we are going to analyze the women’s role in the book, as inferior and weaker gender.

Like many short stories, John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums” deceives most readers by appearing to be a simple short story. “The Chrysanthemums,” which only occupies about eight pages in textbooks, captures the emotional pain of a woman trying to live in the 1930’s. As critic Stanley Renner wrote, “’The Chrysanthemums’” shows “a strong capable woman kept from personal, social, and sexual fulfillment by the prevailing conception of a woman’s role in a world dominated by men” (Renner 306). Elisa Allen, the only female in “The Chrysanthemums” displays her sexual frustrations throughout the short story by slipping in and out of masculine and feminine characteristics.

Since the beginning of time, gender has played a big role in how one acts and how one is looked upon in society. From a young age children are taught to be either feminine or masculine. Why is it that gender plays a big role in the characteristics that one beholds? For centuries in many countries it has been installed in individual’s heads that they have to live by certain stereotypes. Women have been taught to be feeble to men and depend on them for social and economical happiness. While men have been taught to be mucho characters that have take care of their homes and be the superior individual to a woman. For the individuals who dare to be different and choose to form their own identity whether man or woman, they are out casted and

In order to show this reality, Steinbeck uses the world and behavior of a woman, Elisa Allen a thirty five years old wife of a farmer, who is surrounded by multiple boundaries which prevent her of living a happy and satisfactory life.

At a young age, we are taught to adhere to norms and are restricted to conform to society’s given rules. We are taught that straying away from stereotypes is anything but good and encouraged to build our lives upon only these social rules. Recently, stereotypes based on genders have been put into the limelight and have become of high interest to a generation that is infamously known for deviating from the established way of life. Millennials have put gender roles under fire, deeming it a form of segregation and discrimination by gender. Researchers have followed suit. Mimicking millennial interests, numerous studies have been published that detail the relationship between gender, stereotypes, and the effects of the relationship between the two. Furthermore, gender roles have been used as a lens to study socialization; tremendous amounts of interest have prompted studies on the inheritance and dissemination of norms, culture, and ideologies based on the stereotypes that cloud gender. For sociologists, determining the extent of the impact of gender stereotypes on socializing our population has become a paramount discussion. Amidst many articles, the work of Karniol, Freeman, and Adler & Kless were standouts and between the three pieces, childhood served as a common thread; more specifically, these researchers studied how gender roles impact socialization from such a young age.

"For most of history, anonymous was a woman", quotes Virginia Woolf. (1) Throughout history, women’s lives were restricted to domesticity and family, and they were left oppressed and without political voice. Over the decades the roles of women have dramatically changed from chattels belonging to their husbands to gaining independence. Women became famous activists, thinkers, writers, and artists, like Frida Kahlo who was an important figure for women’s independence. The price women paid in their fight for equality was to die or be imprisoned along with men, and they were largely forgotten in written history. However, the roles they took on were wide-ranging which included working in factories, tending the troops, taking care of children

The short story “The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck tells the story of Elisa Allen, a woman living with her husband in the Salinas Valley. Elisa is unsatisfied with her role as a rancher’s wife and would like to gain more independence and importance, yet she lives in a time when women were generally not as independent as men. The singular effect of entrapment is present throughout aspects of Elisa’s life from her personal identity, to her relationship with her husband, to her interactions with the pot mender. When the travelling pot mender arrives and speaks of his lifestyle, Elisa’s desire to see and do more in life is stirred. In the end he discards Elisa’s importance, which leaves her feeling dejected. Ultimately, she becomes defeated in her pursuit for a more meaningful existence. In “The Chrysanthemums,” author John Steinbeck represents the theme of gender inequality through the development of Elisa’s primary dilemma of a lack of purpose and importance in a society that did not see men and women as equals.