Odour Of Chrysanthemums Summary

They say there is nothing in this world like a mother’s love. In the short story, “Odour of Chrysanthemums,” Elizabeth, the mother of two, is facing a battle conflicting if she loves her husband or not. She is trying to be strong for her family and hold them together, because she feels like that is her job as a mother. Elizabeth has a mindset that her husband is out drinking and spending his spare time at unnecessary places, as he has before, instead of spending time with his family. Women overanalyze most situations but usually have a reason to. Women want the best for their family, which is what Elizabeth’s main concern is, and if her husband is not doing what is good for her family she wants away from it. In the short story “Odour

1. In "The Chrysanthemums," the interaction between Elisa and the traveling repairman helps develop the story's theme about taking risks. Describe their interaction and explain how it helps to develop the story's theme. Be sure to use specific details from the text to support your ideas. (10 points)

Elizabeth: Her voice rising; her composure falling away. Do you doubt my ladyship? Why should I welcome a reaper into my home? You have left the court, have you not? Well I have left the presence of the town. I will no longer allow myself to exchange pleasantries with those who have laid blood upon my husband’s name! You haven’t a clue of the hardship I have endured. No. I will stay in this house until my skin withers. I will stay until my bones dissolve and my tears leak from my fingertips. I will stay until the world falls away and I am left to myself alone. Leave now. Please. While I still have a grasp on the last of my dignity. I cannot bear to see you. Perhaps that is unfair. Her voice shakes and hushes. But so was John’s downfall. You will bother me no longer. Close the door on your way out. Elizabeth sits back down, and turns her chair away. She goes still. She is

This story of a girl who lacked concern for her mother is used to criticize the Herritons and other English people lack love for their family and place social status and formal convention over their own relatives.

Fitting with the common theme between the two novels of the judgment of others, each heroine falls victim to a horrible misjudgment of the character of another. After discovering that the engagement between her brother and her friend Isabella has been broken, Catherine finds she has grossly misjudged her friend’s character, and thinks, “She was ashamed of Isabella, ashamed of ever having loved her” (Northanger 150). Elizabeth, on the other hand, finds her attachment the Wickham wholly inappropriate after receiving her letter from Mr. Darcy. After digesting the shocking contents of the letter, Elizabeth “grew absolutely ashamed of herself.—Of neither Darcy nor Wickham could she think, without feeling that she had been blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd” (Pride 156). And indeed, as suggested by Elizabeth’s mention of Darcy, this misjudgment goes on to affect each girl’s attachment to her future husband.

Finally, when her husband becomes angry and starts to scolds her, she chooses to endure it. Although she knows that her job is no less valuable than her husband’s job, she does not refute him. Her choice avoids many unnecessary quarrels between her and her husband. She is the first and only person to say, “I love you.” (Gilb,360) in the entire story. She loves her husband and her family deeply. According to a research in psychology today, Barton Goldsmith mentions that “Mothers are the emotional backbones of the family.” (Goldsmith, P6) Obviously, she provides the holding place for everyone’s feelings and does her best to keep them from being and getting hurt.

Charlotte’s pessimistic view on marriage. Unlike Elizabeth, who values personal connection and true happiness, Charlotte simply wants someone to

A mother's love is nursing in a child's life and without it, the child will respond negatively to even the slightest sign of a mother's distance. When Emily returned to her home, the first thing her mother needed was to find someone to be the man of her house. Emily would beg her mother when she was younger before she would leave with her new father to be. " Can't you go some other time, Mommy. like tomorrow?

To begin, readers can detect that Elizabeth is acting out of a moral compass because of her firm beliefs about marriage. While the main concern of most women during this time period was to find financial stability, Elizabeth sought to find a partner to marry out of love. This sharp contrast to the status-quo woman is found in the character of Charlotte Lucas, who repeatedly affirms the fact that she is only looking for a man with wealth and a comfortable home. Charlotte also accepts a marriage proposal three days after her fiancé had

Literary representation of marriage and the response to the cultural conditions of said time are expertly demonstrated in “The Dead,” “The Odor of Chrysanthemums,” and “To Room Nineteen.” There is a tendency of marriage and the family to stultify individual desire in these three works. Through subliminal details and the understanding of relationships during this time period of the middle 20th century, it is evident how marriage, family life, and death are all important characteristics when looking at the motivations and values of the main characters of “The Dead,” “The Odor of Chrysanthemums,” and “To Room Nineteen.” A unifying factor between the three works is the inauthentic love of marriage that occurs within each family in these literary

The short story "The Chrysanthemums" gives insight into the life of its author. John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California. The locale of the story is of key resemblance to the Salinas in which Steinbeck was born and bread. "Salinas was a typical American small town, [differing] only in location and a few distinctive features" (McCarthy 3). The protagonist of this story, Elisa Allen, also resembles Steinbeck's first wife. "Steinbeck probably based the character of Elisa Allen on his own first wife, Carol Henning Steinbeck. Like Elisa, Carol was a woman of considerable talent and energy who wore 'masculine clothes' and was 'strong, large-boned' and 'handsome rather than

Elizabeth’s trust in Jane is strengthened by the weakening of trust in her dear friend Charlotte Lucas. Elizabeth is, naturally, shocked when she hears that Charlotte is engaged to be married to Mr. Collins mere days after Elizabeth herself had refused his hand in marriage. “In as short a time as Mr. Collins’s speeches would allow, everything was settled between them to the satisfaction of both” (Austen 106). Jane’s role as confidante is strengthened by this sudden marriage arrangement because Elizabeth’s “disappointment in Charlotte made her turn with fonder regard to her sister, of whose rectitude and delicacy she was sure her opinion could never be shaken” (Austen

"The Chrysanthemums" introduces us to Elisa Allen, a woman who knows she has a gift for things, but can't make more use of it than to grow her chrysanthemums. She is trapped in the Salinas Valley, where winter's fog sits "like a lid...and [makes] the great valley a closed pot." Her human nature has made her complacent in ordinary life, but the short glimmers of hope offered by her flowers and a passing stranger reveal that there is more to Elisa than her garden. Her environment may be keeping her inside her small garden, but inside her heart there is a longing for more.

Beginning with Mr. Darcy's failed proposal and his later letter of explanation, Elizabeth's proud and judgemental nature is altered by the pressure placed on her to decide if she wishes to marry Mr. Darcy or not. Introspection and her eventual acceptance of her romantic feelings for Mr. Darcy demonstrate that strenuous emotional situations can lead to a change in character, by allowing her to open up her prejudiced mind and see that the opinions she has are not always correct. Prior to her relations with Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth is a young woman who sees little point in marrying if she does not find a man whom will bring her happiness in life. This provides a foundation from which she can change, placing her in an ideal position to change in response to the

I’ve never discriminated a book or a story. Even the ones that never make my heart fully resonate to them. Still, I saw and understood their value. I simply knew they were not meant for me and what they carry within their pages will, one day, find its rightful place into someone else’s hands. But recently, I’ve read something unexpected. I’ve read John Steinbeck short story The Chrysanthemums, and it left me completely displeased. As much as I would like, I can’t seem to find the any value in it. Because something like this never happen before, I used internet hoping it would help me find some enlightenment on the purpose of the story. The results of my researches were not as helpful as I wished for. They all