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.
Her lionhearted clothes reflected her valiant and strong attitude. However – Elisa Allen hid her true feelings. She was deceitful in interpersonal communication. Her tongue spilled bittersweet black smut like that of industrialized coal engines. However – it was compassionate, her concern and subtle behavior. A girl screaming to escape maiden life, but only knew it was disrupt order. “Her face was eager and mature and handsome; even her work with the scissors was over-eager, over-powerful. “The chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for her energy.” Verily, she had the heart of a lion and the appearance of a virgin.
Elisa's unhappiness in her role as the wife of a cattle farmer is clear in her gardening. Through the authors detailed diction it is clear that gardening is her way of freeing herself from her suffocating environment. “The chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for her energy” which is “over-eager” and “over-powerful” (Steinbeck 460). The intensity with which she gardens, “terrier fingers destroy[ing] such pests before they could get started” suggests more than simply a deep interest, but a form of escape completely submerging her self into the task (Steinbeck 460). It is possible that some...
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.
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 ...
...’s nature which yearns for expression. For a moment, she feels she touched on such a shared intimacy with the tinker and it is easy to see why she could have been so easily mistaken because the tinker does imply that he also has that sort of aesthetic sensibility when he describes the chrysanthemums which will bloom later in the summer, “Kind of a long-stemmed flower? Looks like a quick puff of colored smoke?” (282). When the tinker casts her plants aside, it is almost as if he cast aside Elisa’s dreams as well. It’s not just this brief episode that makes Elisa’s cry, but what is really upsetting her is the thought of a future where she feels unfulfilled and unchallenged.
Not far down the road, she discovers the sprouts she gave graciously to the peddler on the ground. During those crucial moments of telling herself why he threw them out and purposefully ignoring the peddler's caravan, Elisa has several sudden revelations: epiphanies. She realizes the man she thought truly valued her flowers simply feigned this interest to get what he wanted and then threw them out, causing her to feel thrown out and used. His disrespect for beautiful things also crosses her mind and she discovers she may never find someone to share the feelings she has for beauty. And finally, just as her chrysanthemums never made it far from the ranch, she knows her own desires to roam beyond the limitations of her home, perhaps even her marriage, are destroyed.
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).
...and ready to be rediscovered again. Early in the story Henry offers Elisa to a dinner in town and half heartedly suggests going to a local fight. Elisa not keen of fights refuses. In retrospect to her inner ambitions Steinbeck tactfully portrays the message that the only way to follow “the bright direction” Elisa strongly wants is to be willing to fight for it. Nonetheless, don’t be fooled to believe any such inspirations to be acquired will come to you. But Elisa verily on the edge at the end of the story asks Henry about the fights and he suggests if she wants to go. She refuses, Steinbeck again symbolically suggesting she is unwilling to fight for what she wants. So her chrysanthemums will remain out of reach until she decides to do so.
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).
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...
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 figured print dress almost completely covered by a big corduroy apron…" (paragraph 5). When Elisa’s husband Henry comes over and compliments her garden and ability to grow things Elisa is smug with him and very proud of her skill with the flowers. Her "green thumb" makes her an equal in her own eyes. When Elisa’s husband asks her if she would like to go to dinner her feminine side comes out. She is excited to go eat at a restaurant and states that she would much rather go to the movies than go see the fights, she "wouldn’t like the fight’s" at all (paragraph 21). Elisa is taken aback with her own submissiveness and quickly becomes preoccupied with her flowers as soon as her husband leaves. When the drifter comes and asks Elisa for work to do she is stern with him and refuses him a job. She acts as a man would to another strange man and becomes irritated. When he persists in asking her she reply’s "I tell you I have nothing like that for you to do" (paragraph 46). The drifter mentions Elisa’s chrysanthemums and she immediately loosens up as "the irritation and resistance melt(ed) from her face" (paragraph 51). The drifter feigns great interest in Elisa’s chrysanthemums and asks her many questions about them. He tells her he knows a lady who said to him "if you ever come across some nice chrysanthemums I wish you’d try to get me a few seeds" (paragraph 56). Elisa is overjoyed by any interest in her flowers and gives the man chrysanthemum sprouts to take to his friend.
It is this understanding that shatters Elisa’s belief that she is in complete control of her own life. In the beginning of the story Elisa considers herself free and independent based on her attire, and this is reinforced by comments made by her husband. Yet, Steinbeck’s intentions were not to depict Elisa as the leading character, but rather as a realistic portrayal of the “man vs. society” struggle that women in 1930s were faced with. As such, Elisa Allen serves as a historical monument acknowledging the great strides that women have taken since then in order to create a truly equal and free American
...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’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