Elisa is a thirty-five-year-old women who lives in the Salinas Valley Ranch far from society “closed off from the sky and from all the rest of the world” (Steinbeck). Elisa lacks contact with anybody and everything from the outside world, she has no excitement in her life. She lives alone on the ranch with her husband Henry, who doesn’t really understand her. Elisa’s femininity is repressed because she works all day giving her a blocked man figure, her husband Henry doesn’t acknowledge her, giving her thoughts of unfaithfulness and at the end whatever glimmer of hope Elisa had from meeting the stranger is crushed when she sees the only thing she was proud of on the ground on the side of the road. Elisa has a lot of energy in her, she …show more content…
who sat between the cover flaps and drove the crawling team”. The man is a tinkerer looking for work to earn money for supper and his team consists of an old horse and a grey and white donkey. At first, Elisa seems to be bothered by the tinkerer until he mentions Elissa Chrysanthemums and the “irritation and resistance melts away” (Steinbeck). Upon meeting the tinker, her emotions of femininity and sexuality rejuvenate from the repression her husband Henry had brought into Elisa. By admiring her Chrysanthemums, the tinkerer is figuratively admiring Elisa femininity, giving her thoughts of having an affair with this man. She sees this as the moment she has been waiting for a very long time, approbation and admiration from a man to notice her as a woman, “Kneeling there, her hand went out toward his legs in the greasy black trousers. Her hesitant fingers almost touched the cloth Then her hand dropped to the ground” (Steinbeck) but she stops herself when she tries to make a move because again at that time it was not proper for a woman to go first before a …show more content…
Elisa is now reborn and has the inspiration of a bright direction to feel more feminine and have a better marriage. After the tinker leaves she takes a good shower that her “skin was scratched and red” (Steinbeck), she takes her time to get all dolled putting “on the nicest underclothing and the nicest stocking and the dress which was a symbol of her prettiness” (Steinbeck). She is getting ready for her date with Henry, she is feeling womanly, so she puts on her nicest clothing to look beautiful. Unfortunately, all henry can say when he sees Elisa is that she looks strong, after taking her time to get ready, she is feeling the repression again but gets into the car anyways. Moreover, At the end, she is completely heartbroken to see that the tinker had thrown out the soil out in the middle of the road and that’s when her dreams are truly devastated. Her chrysanthemums sprout thrown out just like her femininity and her glimmer of hope. Elisa’s heart sinks realizing that men are oblivious to her and asks Henry for wine to have a small change of her daily repetitive routine that she now accepts will be the same for the rest of her
While Boyle describes Mrs. Ames as elegant, gentle, and quiet, Steinbeck gives to Elisa more strength. Her face was “lean and strong”, and her figure looked “blocked and heavy in her gardening costume”. Both women find their own ways to cover lack of happiness in their everyday lives. The astronomer’s wife is managing the house finding the silliest things to keep her busy: “…from the removal of the spot left there from dinner on the astronomer’s vest to the severe trashing of the mayonnaise for lunch”. Elisa spends her days in garden raising chrysanthemums “bigger than anybody around here.” The fact that these two women did not have any children can mislead us to the conclusion that they were both trying to satisfy the instincts they were probably having at the age of thirty-five. While this is the case with Elisa, the astronomer’s wife had different problem: the lack of communication with her husband and incapability to understand the world he was in.
...hich was the symbol of her prettiness” (Steinbeck 94). Although when Elisa and Henry are on their way to go to the town, Elisa sees the chrysanthemums that the tinkerer had thrown out. At this moment, Elisa suddenly realizes that she will never be anything more than what she was before, a woman that is worthless to society.
Elisa life in the “closed pot” of the Salinas Valley is not one that she wants, but it is one that she cannot escape. Without the encouragement of a man, she cannot find the strength to look beyond her life of gardening and household chores. Until she does, she will remain trapped in role as a house-wife.
When asked about John Steinbeck’s career, people often refer to Steinbeck as a playwright, journalist, and a well-known novelist. The book Of Mice and Men is a popular novel by John Steinbeck and a required read for most high school students. Most of Steinbeck 's novels have a central theme focusing on the relationship between man and his environment. The American dream for George and Lennie, two of the main characters in Of Mice and Men, is to have a place of their own, to be respected, and to work hard for everything they earn and deserve. In Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, the land and a hope of a better life becomes the talisman of an American dream for Lennie and George that is left unfulfilled.
From the beginning of the short story, Steinbeck emphasizes that Elisa is a strong, competent woman who finds her considerable energy channeled into things, such as her garden, which never give her the sort of recognition or satisfaction that she craves. For a brief moment, she senses that she is capable of much more and feels her own strength only to, once again, have a man bring down her efforts, and her self-esteem. The story opens with Elisa working in her garden. Steinbeck makes a point of telling the reader that she is thirty-five. Her age at once implies a woman almost at her middle-age who may be reexamining the dreams of her youth as she contemplates the second half of her life. Steinbeck emphasizes Elisa’s strength as he writes, “Her face was eager and mature and handsome” (Steinbeck 279). Her husband, Henry, comes back to the house having just completed the sell of some cattle. He is complimentary towards her gardening and comments on her talent. He suggests that she put her talent to work in the orchard growing apples, and Elisa considers his offhand comment seriously,...
In John Steinbeck’s The Chrysanthemums, the reader is introduced to the seemingly timid and shy Elisa Allen. Elisa is routinely planting her yearly sets of Chrysanthemums, which appear to be the sole receptor of her caring and gentle touch, but all the while it is evident that “the chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for her energy.” Her hidden eagerness seems not only out of place, but out of touch with her dry and wilted surroundings, of which her husband, Henry, abruptly interrupts her steady pace. Inquiring of dinner plans, he is quickly shuttered out, so that Elisa can continue her work in the fenced in flower bed. This seems to be the only place on the ranch that belongs to her, and thus devoting the entirety of her time, and consideration, towards this lonely sandy square.
Elisa’s inner feelings are most apparent with the portrayal of her working in the garden, the conversation she has with the “Fixer-Guy”, and finally, when she and her husband are going out to dinner. Steinbeck offers an array of different details concerning the character of Elisa Allen. The main detail being that she is a strong woman on the inside although she seems to struggle in showing it throughout the story. Because of the "Pot Fixer," she is able to act, although for a short time, like that strong woman. Steinbeck unfortunately brings Elisa full-circle, back to where she started. She notices on the way to dinner her chrysanthemum sprouts at the roadside. This, along with her husband’s hesitation to allow her curiosity, puts her back where she started, canceling her emergence. One must ask after reading this short story if Elisa will continue this discontented lifestyle. Or will she be able to blossom beautifully for good, as do her chrysanthemums?
Elisa Allen is a thirty-five-year-old woman who lives on a ranch in the Salinas Valley with her husband Henry. She is "lean and strong," and wears shapeless, functional clothes (Steinbeck 203). The couple has no children, no pets, no near neighbors, and Henry is busy doing chores on the ranch throughout the day. Elisa fills her hours by vigorously cleaning the ''hard-swept looking little house, with hard-polished windows,'' and by tending her flower garden (204). She has ''a gift'' for growing things, especially her chrysanthemums, and she is proud of it (204).
The setting of the story is unique because it has a direct connection with the author; Salinas California is Steinbeck’s birthplace (Millichap, Joseph R). Herein lays the stories first embodiment of dramatic tone as well as the description of the characters; which sets the stage for symbolism, personification, and dramatic tone for the rest of the story. The description of the setting is unique and important because of its symbolic representations of the conflict between the characters and also the interpersonal conflict of Elisa. The story opens with a panoramic view of the Salinas Valley, in winter, shrouded in fog. The Valley which is being, “closed off” from the rest of the world, is a symbolic representation for the way Elisa feels about her life. However, the weather in the valley is awaiting change...
The Salinas Valley is symbolic to Elisa’s inner feelings. The farm responsibilities Elisa shared with her husband Henry encouraged “cold and tender” thoughts that often left Elisa feeling “closed off from the rest of the world” (paragraph 1). Her consistent lonely and empty days began to “fog” the belief of any better days to come. The [quiet of waiting] was yearning for any “sharp and positive” (paragraph 2) notion that had yet to be nurtured. But until Elisa was given any chance to set free of such desires she had to remain forcibly content inside of her chrysanthemum garden.
This frustration is evident when Elisa is first introduced. Her figure is described as "blocked and heavy" because she is wearing heavy gloves, heavy shoes, a "man's black hat," and a big apron that hides her printed dress (Steinbeck 330). Her home has the masculine qualities of being "hard-swept" and hard-polished" (Steinbeck 330). Elisa is bored with her husband and with her life (McMahan 455). Obviously, Elisa is unhappy with the traditional female role and is attempti...
Elisa’s husband Henry just made a deal to sell some of livestock for a good amount of money and decides to celebrate his deal with his wife by taking her out for dinner and a movie. Throughout the story, a tinker passes by Elisa’s garden and stops and decides to talk to her. The tinker is trying to get
Initially, John Steinbeck’s short story, “The Chrysanthemums” illustrates the internal conflict a sorrowful housewife faces. The day-to-day life of character, Elisa, seems like a boring one and Steinbeck attempts to remind the reader to not give into temptation and cherish loved ones. During the dialogue, Elisa’s husband, Henry, offers an idea to go out to dinner and the less than enthusiastic response of, “I’ll have plenty of time to transplant some of these sets” (Steinbeck 435) proves that Elisa cares more about her garden than spending time with her husband. Rather than make an effort to bond with her spouse, she appears to be reluctant when asked to go out and enjoy a simple night on the town. Additionally, the failure of a connection between the couple gives the Tinker an opening to make an impact on Elisa’s mental state. Once the Tinker gives her the least bit of attention, Elisa’s entire demeanor starts to change. When Elisa is first described to us, she is unwomanly: “her figure looked blocked and heavy, and she wore a “man’s black hat pulled low down over her eyes” (Steinbeck 438). Although, she is not portrayed as a strong symbol of femininity, the Tinker has spiked an interest in her taboo ways. In the web article “Symbolism in ‘The Chrysanthemums’,” Elizabeth Kassim classifies the tinker as the “catalyst in Elisa’s life”(http://www.lonestar.edu). The admiration of the flowers leads the tinker to admire Elisa. Her sexuality is defined by the chrysanthemums and she “tears off the battered hat and shakes out her dark pretty hair” (Steinbeck 441). With a few kind and well-placed remarks by the Tinker, Elisa thinks there could be a new beginning all aspects of her life. Elisa’s marriage and the way she feels about herself ...
Elisa Allen embodies the image of a simple woman eager to escape the confines of a gender defined role in society. Readers are introduced to Elisa as a 35 year old, strong woman living with her husband, Henry, on a ranch in Salinas Valley (Steinbeck 460). Elisa’s masculinity is highlighted from the attire she is wearing to the strength in her hands. Henry affirms that Elisa is capable in her endeavors when he states, “you’ve got a gift with things,” in regards to her garden (Steinbeck 460). Even though Elisa is delighted at Henry’s suggestion that she work in the orchard, the idea does not seem to get a second thought (Steinbeck 460). The idea of a woman working in the orchard is dismissed on the premise that the orchard is not a woman’s place. In Elisa’s account with the man in the wagon, her sexuality exudes in her graphic explanation of picking off the flower buds and being under the stars, to the point that she almost physically touches the man (Steinbeck 463). Her desire would go unsatisfied, as it would not be appropriate for her to act on her impulse. Elisa is searching for fulfillment in life but finds her role to be trivial. Intrigued by the idea of traveling, as the gentleman in the wagon does, she states, “It must be very nice. I wish women could do such things.” She is shot down as the man replies, “It ain’t the right kind of a life for a woman” (Steinbeck 464). This conversation clearly depicts the prevalent inequality of the sexes. Furthermore, once the man leaves in the caravan Elisa cements her urge for something more, looking out at the horizon whispering, “That’s a bright direction. There’s a glowing there” (Steinbeck 464-465).
Elisa is at her strongest and most proud in the garden and becomes weak when placed in feminine positions such as going out to dinner with her husband. Steinbeck carefully narrates this woman’s frequent shifts between femininity and masculinity over a short period of time. In the opening of the story, Elisa is emasculated by the description of her clothing. She wears "a man’s black hat pulled low down over her eyes, clodhopper shoes, a figure print dress almost completely covered by a big corduroy apron." (paragraph 5).