Elisa and The Chrysanthemums

1045 Words3 Pages

Although her face was described as lean and strong, and her attire was somehow "manly" , Elisa is a repress woman who desires adventure, companionship, recognition and respect for her work with her Chrysanthemums.Her troubling break down at the end of the story was a complete total submission to a world she cannot hope to change. The moment she saw the dark speck and knew it was her Chrysanthemums, the flower she nurtured, cherished and that symbolizes her gift for growing things, her feminism and that is part of her, her heart broke in thousands pieces, even though she tried to stay strong for herself and her chrysanthemums, she eventually quietly broke down and started weeping like an old woman.
Some may argue that her break down may only be temporary.For instance,in Jay Parini writing Lawrence's and Steinbeck "Chrysanthemums", he wrote that "Elisa is finally hurt by the repairman, who was merely toying with her,but she is not broken", and he went on to using Charlotte Hadella note which states that "Even though, in the end, she thinks of herself as a weak, old woman, the powerful imagery of the strong, new crop of chrysanthemums waiting for rain still dominates the story" to support his argument. Even though it is a valid argument, Elisa Allen broke down and cried like an old woman, which is a sign of total defeat, and it was well thought out and written by Victoria Price in her article "The Chrysanthemums" where she stated that "For the last critical scene of symbolism, Elisa sees her precious chrysanthemum on the ground, but without the pot it was given in. With everything that happened between the stranger and Elisa, this could be explained by simply saying,"used". She was basically fooled into giving herself away to someone...

... middle of paper ...

...ubmission. Not only married women, as it was said this is a men world and women are the care takers, they aren't suppose to do a certain type of work, but as time went, women took a stand and moved beyond the basic requirements that the society of men expects of us.Women still live in the shadow of men because some women get pay less for the same job a man is doing, just because of her gender, but it is better compare to Elisa and other women during her time, because women today are capable of doing any job a man is doing without being "completly" frown upon.

Works Cited

Jay Parini article "Lawrence's and Steinbeck's "Chrysanthemums"
John Steinbeck "The Chrysanthemums"
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.db16.linccweb.org/lrc/detail?sid=98b36a81-5002-46a4-bf63-4dd936a55e7c%40sessionmgr4003&vid=1&hid=4212&bdata=JnNpdGU9bHJjLXBsdXM%3d#db=lkh&AN=103331MP413459820000495

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