The Chrysanthemums Literary Analysis

Everything is everything in the world of short stories. Steinbeck's The Chrysanthemums is full of thick rhetoric that raises questions and stirs the mind and imagination. Everything from the title, to the last line needs to be thought about more than once. The story isn't just about a farmer's wife who likes pretty flowers. Not in the least! The Chrysanthemums is a story about how Elisa Allen is forced to a life that she feels is trapping her. The story is set in the early twentieth century and these times don't allow for just any woman to leave her ordinary, socially and politically correct life. Feminism is a large part of the story, and main character Elisa Allen's language, actions, and even the way she is described play a large

The flowers are beautiful and eye catching, but serve no real purpose to the house. Elisa feels a connection to the flowers when she tends to them. She claims to have “planter’s hands” just like her mother. When someone compliments or asks about the chrysanthemums her mood brightens, as if they are acknowledging the work that she puts in and her talents. However, after the tinker leaves and Henry and Elisa are driving down the road, she notices that the tinker had discarded the chrysanthemums she had given him on the side of the road. This symbolizes the society that she lives in discarding her abilities and drive because of her

We see an example of this when we are shown how greatly in detail she cares for these flowers and the attachment she has to them which exceeds the levels of a typical person. Elisa is 35 without children and therefore we see these flowers have become her replacement for this feminine identity. Her sexual desire and feminine identity become so weakened that the slightest nice words from the Tinker excite her and cause her to feel more like a woman. Although at the start of the night out with her husband we see she is feeling good about herself and built up, we see that quickly collapse as she sees the chrysanthemums she gave to the Tinker ditched on the side of the road and she begins to cry and ends the story feeling “like a weak old woman (Steinbeck 244).

“The Chrysanthemums” is a short story in The Long Valley, a collection of short stories by John Steinbeck. This story dramatizes the efforts made by a housewife, Elisa Allen, to compensate for the disappointments which she has encountered in her life. Steinbeck makes it clear that Elisa yearns for something more in her life then the everyday routines of farm life. While Elisa is portrayed as strong, in the end, her strength serves to be insufficient in having the courage to effect any real change in her life since her fragile self-esteem proves to be too susceptible to outside forces.

Elisa, also a housewife, usually had activities involved in routine housework and maintaining her flower garden, that was filled with chrysanthemums. She took care of the chrysanthemums as if they were her children, and being a farmers’ wife, she had more free time than her husband, Henry. When the tinker, also known as the tin man, came up to Elisa for work he tried to manipulate her into giving him some work to do. When the tinker saw there was no way Elisa would give him work, he tried to work her. “What’s them plants, ma’am?” (Steinbeck, 208). Tinker asked Elisa about the plants probably so he could influence her about chrysanthemums- that way they bond on the subject of the flowers and from there Elisa started to explain the importance of these flowers. Elisa doesn’t realize she’s being played with until near the end when tinker finally leaves she waves goodbye to him but her voice drops as she says the word “Goodbye to goodbye”, finding that the tinker threw Elisa’s chrysanthemums away (Steinbeck, 210). This quote showed the attachment for the chrysanthemums Elisa had, and the minute the tinker threw away those flowers, it broke Elisa’s heart. This makes Elisa thinks about how a man can get what he wants while Elisa

“The Chrysanthemums” is one of John Steinbeck’s popular short stories. “The Chrysanthemums” represents inequality of gender, limitations, and feminism. The story is about a married woman living in the early 1900s who longs for a more exciting, meaningful existence. Elisa Allen is intelligent, accomplished, attractive, and ambitious. Yet she feels confined in her life and marriage.

On the road to dinner Elisa’s mood is reversed as she sees the Chrysanthemums sprouts lying in the road. She discovers that the handyman not only lied about his interest in her Chrysanthemums but also kept the pot and only threw away the flowers. He didn’t even have the decency to throw them to the side of the road where they might have a chance at life. Elisa feels discarded like these Chrysanthemums at that moment and the readers can feel it in this quote from the story:

In the short story, “Chrysanthemums,” by John Steinbeck, a woman named Elisa is transformed into a chrysanthemum in parallel to the actual chrysanthemum flowers she cares for. In the beginning of the story, Elisa is similar to the chrysanthemum shoots when she is working in her garden in her dirty dress, apron, and a man’s hat. When Elisa is getting ready for dinner, however, she transforms into a beautiful chrysanthemum flower by cleaning herself and putting on a nice dress. In addition to being like a chrysanthemum, Elisa acts like the chrysanthemum flowers are the children she doesn't have in the way she cares for and loves them. This is the reason why Elisa cries when she sees the chrysanthemum shoots she gave to the tinker lying

There are many symbolic references to Elisa Allen as a sexually repressed and frustrated woman. One representation of the chrysanthemum is Elisa's passion and eagerness to live and experience life a content woman. While tending her chrysanthemums "she pulled out the crisp little roots and trimmed of the leaves of each one with her scissors (Steinbeck 1464)." This is a symbolism of Elisa Allen closing off all opportunities to grow as a sexual woman; She has resigned herself to the monotonous life as a complacent farmer's wife (Lee 1). The "figured print dress (Steinbeck 1463)" under the apron shows the readers that Elisa is aware of her sexuality but instead of acting on it has chosen to subdue it. She keeps her sexuality and passions under control like she cares for her chrysanthemums "laid [in a] small [and] orderly pile (Steinbeck 1464)" (Lee 1). Elisa begins to allow this sexuality to emerge when the traveling tinker romantically describes her

In his short story, “Chrysanthemums”, John Steinbeck characterizes Elisa as strong, passionate, and slightly submissive. This story taking place in the era of the Great Depression shows the role of women in this Californian farming society, and also the sentiments of women and how sexism influenced their everyday life. Steinbeck uses those three adjectives to show just how the women of the 30’s were treated and looked at by men and society. In the story “Chrysanthemums”, Steinbeck introduces Elisa, the wife of a farmer in the Salinas Valley in California, as a woman who is about her work and is very dedicated to her garden of chrysanthemums.

John Steinbeck is remembered as one of the classic American writers, and his book Chrysanthemums is no exception. The title of the book is a reference to the symbols and plot of the story, a Chrysanthemum being a symbolic flower for the protagonist, Elisa Allen. The story is set during the Great Depression, and therefore marriage by arrangement was common in agricultural areas, as finding food and shelter were more important than childhood ambitions, as Elisa learned the hard way. Symbols are used to convey a particular meaning constantly in the Chrysanthemums, the flowers within the story reflect the emotions involved in the events that take place in the story.

“The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck, is about a woman named Elisa Allen who is frustrated with her present day life due to her marriage. Her relationship with her husband lacks romanticism and connection. The chrysanthemums she grows are her outlet where all her problems and frustration disappear. In a way, her chrysanthemums are what keeps her going and provide her only source of joy. The chrysanthemums represent herself, strong and beautiful yet unimportant to the world that surrounds her.

John Steinbeck's short story "The Chrysanthemums" is impeccably written because he creates a setting using vivid imagery and diction, and he also uses the curious man to leave an impression on Elisa. Steinbeck creates a beautiful scene by describing the sky and the Allen's beautiful picturesque home. The story is slow to build, which is due to the dialogue, however, it does eventually get to the climax of the story. The man who appears to be a haggler seems to have a soft spot for Elisa. I assumed that the man was trying to take the plant roots so he can make some money, but later when she passes him on the road, I begin to wonder if that is really the case. Elisa takes their conversation to heart, and then later lashes out at her husband,

John Steinbeck, in his short story "The Chrysanthemums" depicts the trials of a woman attempting to gain power in a man's world. Elisa Allen tries to define the boundaries of her role as a woman in such a closed society. While her environment is portrayed as a tool for social repression, it is through nature in her garden where Elisa gains and shows off her power. As the story progresses, Elisa has trouble extending this power outside of the fence that surrounds her garden. In the end, Elisa learns but does not readily accept, that she possesses a feminine power weak for the time, not the masculine one she had tried so hard to achieve through its imitation.

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.