Preview

Boundaries of Life: John Steinbeck's Story The Chrysanthemums

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1043 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Boundaries of Life: John Steinbeck's Story The Chrysanthemums
Boundaries of Life Elisa Allen, the main character in John Steinbeck's story The Chrysanthemums, is a lonely farmers wife who is stuck in her roll due to the views society has on women. She is an eager person who fiends for excitement and passion in her life. Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond her control, she is virtually isolated from society trapped in the fenced of the country farm. Despite Elisa Allen’s physical appearance that is more masculine that feminine, she tries to have her womanly side shine through. John Steinbeck uses the symbolic representation of Elisa’s dress to show that Elisa wants to display her feminine side, but the fence surrounding the garden to represent the boundaries and blockades Elisa has experienced and is currently experiencing in her life. Elisa Allen’s physical appearance is introduced in a manly way. Steinbeck introduces her to the reader as more of a man, instead of a woman. “Her figure looked blocked and heavy in her gardening costume” (Steinbeck 243). Elisa tries to control her sexuality of being a woman by hiding beneath manly apparel such as clothing, tools, and even her home. “She wore a man’s black hat, clod-hopper shoes…and heavy leather gloves” (Steinbeck 243). Despite the shameful manly appearance, Elisa still obtained to her garden on a regular basis. Elisa lived a very confined life away from a large sum of society. Steinbeck uses imagery to formulate a picture for the reader as to how isolated Elisa was from the rest of the world. “The high gray-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas valley” (Steinbeck 242). The fog surrounding the Salinas valley is a representation of the barrier of the detachment between Elisa and the rest of the world. The house is described as being across from the river, which adds to the seclusion she feels. Steinbeck placed Elisa’s house away from the town and all types of civilization to not only symbolize, but highlight exactly how lonely she is, despite her having a
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Elisa Allen: a Mystified Identity
    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Elisa Allen: a Mystified Identity

    Firstly, Elisa Allen is described and presented in a very masculine manner. The words “strong”, “a man’s black hat” and “heavy leather gloves” showcase the masculinity. Additionally, her features described as, “her face was eager and mature and handsome……over-powerful.” lend substance to her masculinity. Interestingly, this description of Elisa is in stark contrast to the societal perception of females in that era who are meant to be more feminine. The fact that she is she is thirty five years old and has no children also de-emphasizes her femininity. However, this presentation of masculinity augurs well with her acuity for business which is demonstrated in her interest in knowing more about the conversation of her husband, Henry Allen with the men in business suits. Also, her negotiation skills with the tinker showcase the business acuity of Elisa that has gone unnoticed by Henry. The societal norms have dictated that she carry out her role as a gardener with penchant. As a result, Elisa devotes all of her energy to maintaining her house and garden. Although she rightly brags about her green thumb, Elisa’s connection to nature seems rather coerced and not something that comes as naturally as she claims. She knows a great deal…

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Chrysanthemums Feminist Analysis
    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Chrysanthemums Feminist Analysis

    Elisa believes that she can do anything a man can do and doesn’t limit herself to what the public sphere believes. We can see this in her enthusiasm when henry sarcastically says “I wish you’d work out in the orchard and raise some apples that big.”(114) this is also shown when Elisa says “I wish women could do such things.”(118) when asking how the tinker lives. At the age of 35 Elisa life is very repetitive and will go on continuously with very little change. I assume this through the fact that Elisa has no children and her work is limited to the house and garden. Elisa’s priority is her chrysanthemums the author shows us this “She turned up her collar so he could not see that she was crying weakly- like an old woman” (121). Elisa daily routine is to repetitive to show that drastic change will happen much in her life as she is already 35 years old. The joys Elisa has in this world are her chrysanthemums and the chance to be able to escape her containment and join the public sphere. The chrysanthemums in this case represent Elisa’s desire to nurture, grow and love and is the only thing that gives her joy. Thoughts of going beyond the fence and maybe working in the orchard further excite Elisa . In some viewpoints Elisa is responsible for where she is as she has free choice to be with henry and nobody is…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Chrysanthemums Literary Analysis
    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Chrysanthemums Literary Analysis

    She isn’t gentle with flowers, instead using scissors to “destroy the pests.” Elisa also cleans the house from top to bottom, with “hard-polished windows” and a “clean mud mat on the front steps.” Elisa conforms to her feminine obligations but isn’t as feminine and gentle as she is expected to be. Elisa’s husband, Henry, also believes in those feminine roles she’s expected to fulfill. He notes how she has a “gift with things” but it only “works on flowers.” He also ends the conversation and dismisses her when he goes on to speak to some men about business matters. Henry doesn’t think that it’s right for a woman to be involved in business and should only be a housewife. Later on, Elisa asks her husband about the fights in town when driving, and he stops the car, surprised that she read about them. The other main character, the tinkerer, also believes Elisa shouldn’t do things usually reserved for men. When he tells her about how he sleeps in a wagon and constantly travels,…

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Women In The Chrysanthemums
    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Women In The Chrysanthemums

    In many ways the roles of woman were just kept as being housewives or mothers in charge of managing the children while the men tended to the fields or to the factories to provide for their families. And both Hemingway and Steinbeck tend to portray woman similarly, for example it can be seen in “The Chrysanthemums” and “Hills like white Elephant”. In the short story “The Chrysanthemums” the main protagonist Elisa was shown at the beginning of the story tending to her garden as a man in a wagon came upon her farm. At first she was irritated by the man but when he asked about the Chrysanthemums she was…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Steinbeck: Annotated Bibliography
    • 1138 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Steinbeck: Annotated Bibliography

    The National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, California hosts this website. Not only does this website offer valuable information about Steinbeck, his life and his work, but it also gives great historical background on Salinas Valley; the place which we know Steinbeck held close to his heart. By giving information and history on the Valley itself along with the people who live there, Steinbeck’s readers can feel a deeper connection and have a better understanding with the people that he often times writes about in his novels.…

    • 1138 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Pair Of Silk Stockings And The Chrysanthemums Analysis
    • 1602 Words
    • 7 Pages

    A Pair Of Silk Stockings And The Chrysanthemums Analysis

    In both texts Mrs. Sommers and Elisa realize the establishment of limitations that society puts on them. Mrs. Sommers is a house wife and a mother, she tends to put her husband’s and children’s needs before her own. Similarly, Elisa is married and experiences her abilities being limited because her husband takes over everything except for the Chrysanthemums on the farm. I feel in both stories the women in a way envy the men and their ability to do almost everything because of their status in society. However, Mrs. Sommers recollects memories from her past to the times from which she was single and could indulge more in life when she didn’t have children to care for. I noticed this very clearly when Kate Chopin wrote, “In truth, he saw nothing-unless he were wizard enough to detect a poignant wish, a powerful longing that the cable car would never stop anywhere but go on and on with her forever” (Chopin 5). I feel Mrs. Sommers doesn’t regret anything but she realizes the difference between the two ways of life and at the same time she misses that luxury. On the other hand, Elisa is influenced by outside occurrences such as the tinker who was too quick to judge her because of her gender. When I read, “She was cutting down the old year’s chrysanthemum stalks with a pair of short and powerful scissors.…

    • 1602 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Symbolism in the Chrysanthemums
    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Symbolism in the Chrysanthemums

    Because the title of the short story is “The Chrysanthemums,” the chrysanthemum is an obvious symbol. Elisa’s beautiful garden of chrysanthemums is very important to the story. They are Important because the chrysanthemums are Elisa, meaning they represent her throughout the story. The chrysanthemums symbolize Elisa’s life. Like her they are unimportant to the men in her life. When the tinker asks her about the flowers Elisa brightens up. When Elisa offers a flower to the tinker, she offers herself as well. When the flowers are rejected it symbolizes society’s rejection to women being anything other than mothers and housekeepers. Both the Elisa and the chrysanthemums seem to be simply decorative, and add little importance to the world.…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Chrysanthemums
    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Chrysanthemums

    she is able to do as she would like to do. It is here also that she is able to gain power over everything. Her environment is portrayed as a tool for social repression, it is through nature in her garden where Elisa can gain and show this power. The fencing could also be interpreted as the imprisonment of Elisa. This type of imprisonment is meant to secure her talents and make sure that her womanly use of gardening skills stick strictly to the walls of her enclosure. The thesis will need to be reviewed.…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Literary Criticism of John Steinbeck's the Chysanthemums
    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Literary Criticism of John Steinbeck's the Chysanthemums

    To fully appreciate literature, we must look at it from every angle possible. There are many ways to criticize a piece of literature. Each way helps a reader to better understand the work in its own different way. I hope to outline and give examples of the many different ways that the short story The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck can be interpreted.…

    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Chrysanthemums
    • 1999 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Chrysanthemums

    Cynthia Bily of Short Stories for Students compares Elisa Allen’s life to ecofeminism, the idea that “women and nature are dominated by men in similar ways, and that women’s connections to nature can be a source of strength,” (Bily) Men dominate women as they have always dominated the earth. If you have ever heard of the term, “rape the land” it bares similarity to ecofeminism and how Henry limits Elisa. He rapes her in such a way that prevents her from having a different life, holding her down and restraining her from the many opportunities that the world has to offer. But Elisa’s connection with her chrysanthemums isn’t necessarily representative of who she wants to be according to Bily, but rather her source of energy. Women have an innate, natural attachment to the nature, women are nurturers and Elisa has more of a connection with her garden than she does with the outside world. She lacks relationships it seems, the only person she comes in contact with her husband and even that relationship is unfulfilling. Henry treats Elisa as he treats his land, something to be controlled. He views their life as farmers as a way to earn money. He fails to see the beauty in nature; instead he is focused on the many ways he can make the land work for him. As Henry watched Elisa working in the garden he comments, “Some of those yellow chrysanthemums you had this year were ten inches across. I wish you’d work out in the orchard and raise some apples that big.” (McMahan 326) Perhaps if she could raise apples, they could…

    • 1999 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Comparing The Vigilante And The Chrysanthemums By John Steinbeck
    • 1341 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Comparing The Vigilante And The Chrysanthemums By John Steinbeck

    Elisa Allen, of “The Chrysanthemums,” had an emptiness within herself that could never expose to the world; instead she kept it in until she no longer can. She ends up revealing her shadow to a stranger who gave her the desire she wanted. Elisa had a dream that she does not realize at first, but begins to realize it when the opportunity was in front of her. Her husband who does not share the same interest as her with her garden would only verbally supports her interest when it came that he can see and receive profit from it. Her dream is to have a husband that shows interests in her biggest hobby that is gardening.…

    • 1341 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    John Steinbeck And Kay Boyle Analysis
    • 872 Words
    • 4 Pages

    John Steinbeck And Kay Boyle Analysis

    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. On the other hand, Elisa does communicate with her husband, but the gentle side of this woman is buried in the sand together with her chrysanthemums. What they do have in common is the need for some warmness in their colorless lives. And for both of them colors came suddenly out from strangers who just happened to be…

    • 872 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Setting in the Chrysanthemums
    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Setting in the Chrysanthemums

    The peddler inquires about her flowers, which Henry does not seem to be very concerned with, saying "I wish you'd work in the orchard and raise some apples that big." After dealing with a man who has no concern in life but the bettering of his own dwellings, it is quite obvious why Elisa thrusts herself into conversation with a man, whom she would never bring herself to talk to under normal circumstances. Elisa…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Chrysanthemums
    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Chrysanthemums

    The Allan’s in the story also do not go out much or go to town. Whereas John and his wives never had enough money to go out either. Elisa Allen is very attracted the the tinker in the story and she wanted to touch him, I believe John put this information into “The Chrysanthemums” because his wives always left him. Lastly, Elisa is very protective of the flowers because she has no children so Elisa focuses on growing her flower. John and his wife have no children so the flowers represent his wives desire for children.…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Goblin Market Feminist Analysis
    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Goblin Market Feminist Analysis

    Women in today’s time can read these stories and feel empowered by the change of how the world views them has become one or independence and strength. In “Goblin Market”, Laura becomes consumed of this fruit and it is only by pure love of her sister’s actions that she is able to set Laura free (Rossetti 524-542) This action by Lizzie can easily represent the actions of Christ dying for the sins of the world. Lizzie allowed her herself to be beaten, mocked and abused all for the sake of saving her sister (Rossetti 424-440). Jesus Christ allowed himself to be beaten, mocked and even killed just to save us from our sins. The main theme that can be seen in “The Chrysanthemums” by the use of the chrysanthemums in relation to Elisa. Elisa seems to be happy and be confident by the idea of how well her flowers are doing. It is easy to see how close Elisa is to the flowers. While her flowers may look beautiful and stand up strong, besides that they have no effect or use in society, much like Elisa sees herself in this era. A wife was at the house to cook, clean, care for the children and maybe do a little garden but besides this she had no authority in her marriage (“Women’s…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics