once they realized that they were not reaching fulfillment in their lives, this is when the fight for equality began. John Steinbeck’s short story “The Chrysanthemums”, illustrates the hardships women faced, most importantly Elisa Allen, when their lives were restricted with certain boundaries placed upon them by society. Men, like Henry Allen and the tinker, restricted women to the norms that society placed on women, regulating what women could and could not do; instead of allowing them to participate
Over the course of many generations and within many different cultures, women have faced oppression and have struggled to gain equality in society to men. Both Elisa Allen in John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums” and Sumita in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s “Clothes” desire to achieve equality in societies that limit them because of their gender. Both stories rely heavily on the use of symbolism and the authors use the most prominent symbol in each story as its title. These stories have similar conflicts
“The Chrysanthemums”- A Short Summary "The Chrysanthemums", a short story by John Steinbeck vividly portrays the hardships women back in the 1930's battled with themselves when compared to their significant other; in other words-"An Inequality of Gender". Elisa, the protagonist battled each day with the struggle of equality; thinking and knowing that despite any effort taken on her part-she would never be of equal status in her husband's nor societies' eyes. Needing a way to express herself, Elisa
Elisa Allen At first glance, Elisa Allen looks to be just a typical gardener. She has loving husband and beautiful garden in which she meticulous works on every day. Elisa does not have a meaningful relationship with her husband and shows great interest in a stranger. Elisa’ character the protagonist, uses gardening as a release from her marriage and unhappy life. Elisa struggles with every day differences between men and women and showing her feminine side. The story title “The Chrysanthemums” is
In the short story “The Chrysanthemums”, John Steinbeck uses setting, appearance, and highlights important scenes to contrast self-perception and reality. The setting is used to show how the protagonist, Elisa Allen, is trapped where she is. “The high bray-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world”(358) Elisa’s appearance is seen as “blocked and heavy”(358) to reveal key facts of her personality. Elisa’s self-perception is changed after she
Stockings” by Kate Chopin and “The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck deal with the journey to one’s identity, but they do so in different ways. In 1896 Kate Chopin wrote the story, “A Pair of Silk Stockings”, it takes place in an unnamed city large enough to have a department store, a fashionable restaurant, a theatre, a cable car and most likely depicts what it was like