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Steinbeck portrayal of women
What does Steinbeck’s novel reveal about attitudes towards women in the society in which the novel is set
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Recently, I saw a movie about female tennis champion – Billie Jean King, and although I have never been into the feminism (neither can I say that I quite understand it), her character woke up some other kind of sensitivity in me. After this – to me significant change – I could not help myself not to notice different approaches of John Steinbeck and Kay Boyle to the similar thematic. They both deal with marital relationships and it was quite interesting to view lives of ordinary married couples through both “male” and “female eyes”. While Steinbeck opens his story describing the Salinas Valley in December metaphorically referring to the Elisa’s character, Boyle jumps directly to Mrs. Ames’s inner world. Although both writers give us pretty clear picture of their characters, Boyle does it with more emotions aiming our feelings immediately, unlike Steinbeck who leaves us more space to think about Elisa Allen. Mrs. Ames from “The Astronomer’s Wife” and Elisa Allen from “The Chrysanthemums”, two women in their best ages, did share similar lives. They were loyal wives, of decent beauty and good manners. They were married for some time, without any children and they were fighting the dullness of their marriages. At first, it looked like they were just caught in marriage monotony, but after the surface has been scratched deeper, it was clear that these two women were crying for attention: but they had different reasons. 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.
“Like a river flows so surely to the sea darling, so it goes some things are meant to be.” In literature there have been a copious amount of works that can be attributed to the theme of love and marriage. These works convey the thoughts and actions in which we as people handle every day, and are meant to depict how both love and marriage can effect one’s life. This theme is evident in both “The Storm” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman; both stories have the underlying theme of love and marriage, but are interpreted in different ways. Both in “The Storm” and in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the women are the main focus of the story. In “The Storm” you have Calixta, a seemingly happy married woman who cheats on her husband with an “old-time infatuation” during a storm, and then proceeds to go about the rest of her day as if nothing has happened when her husband and son return. Then you have “The Yellow Wallpaper” where the narrator—who remains nameless—is basically kept prisoner in her own house by her husband and eventually is driven to the point of insanity.
When gender is brought up Elisa often caves into stereotypes, for example she doesn’t like fights. However, the chrysanthemums give her hope and strength to continue moving forward and growing as a person in ways that would not be possible if the flowers were not a constant figure. Being a female in a male-orientated environment she is often plagued by insecurities. For example, when Henry, her husband, says “Why--why, Elisa. You look so nice!” (Steinbeck 248) she responds “Nice? You think I look nice? What do you mean by ‘nice’?” (Steinbeck 248). The wire fence in which her chrysanthemums reside “protected her flower garden from cattle and dogs and chickens” (Steinbeck 243). The wire fence not only shelters the flowers, but can also serve as a metaphorical protection for Elisa, further revealing the thin line between Elisa and her flowers. Elisa relies heavily on the chrysanthemums support and guidance due in part to her geographical location, the Salinas
It is a very difficult task for women to live a content life while in a despondent marriage. Though it has been done, it is simply no easy task. In the short stories "Story of an hour", and "Astronomers Wife" Kate Chopin and Kay Boyle both suggests to their readers that a woman needs a man to connect with her physically to be happy. The two stories both share the thesis that women are being held back by their husbands and there is plenty of evidence to prove this. With Chopin's story taking place in the 50's, and Boyle's story taking place at the turn of the century, they encounter parallel situations with a time difference of almost 50 years.
Throughout the events that take place in the story, both characters start out being someone and based on certain circumstances experience inner change which makes them dynamic. These two women shared similar experiences, had different thoughts that changed them both throughout the stories, but unfortunately not for the best, as their fate at the end of the stories weren’t the best. These two women changed from whom they originally thought they were and their husbands played a part in that change.
The character Elisa in John Steinbeck’s short story “The Chrysanthemums” is a woman who is unsatisfied with her life as a farmer’s wife. She feels that she is capable of doing more with her life than planting flowers and being a typical housewife. When talking to the man in the wagon Elisa states, “It must be nice, she said. It must be very nice. I wish women could do such things” (586). The idea of being able to live on the road and travel wherever she wants causes her to ache for another life. Since she is a woman it is not socially acceptable for her to live life that way, in which she is saddened that men are given more possibilities. Before the man in the wagon leaves, Elisa says, “You might be surprised to have a rival some time. I can
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.
Steinbeck’s expression of women in a patriarchal society depicts Curley’s wife as a frail character, when in fact she is just as capable and sturdy as the men around her. For instance, on the night that George goes to town with the other
The story began on a farm in the Salinas valley at California in winter, Elisa Allen tends to her chrysanthemums while watching her husband talk business with a few men around the tractor shed. She does her planting work with excitement and without any effort. Elisa is characterized as lean, energetic and strong 35-year-old women. Her husband returns back from his successful business deal, and he is excited and needs to go to the town to celebrate his happiness with his wife. They plan to complete their work for the day early and go to Salinas for the dinner and a movie. With Henry off working, Elisa comes back to her chrysanthemums with interests. She is disrupted by a stranger, who fixes pots and pans. He drives up to the house in a fast
Reading The Stepford Wives, by Ira Levin leaves one with many questions, the biggest being “why?” and “how?”. For example, “how” could engineers accurately create a clone of a human? Or “why” would they want to? The mystery throughout the book, and more so nearing the end of the books prompts such things to be wondered. In this essay, there will be a analysis of feminist insecurities within The Stepford Wives, and another novel, called Matched. The insecurities within these books are what enables the plot.
The character analysis of Mary Anne Bell in comparison and contrast to Martha and Elroy Berdahl implores the audience to consider the idea that gender is not inherent.
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 ...
To go back to what was first stated, Elisa feels trapped. Why? Well we can only predict that is has to do with sexuality. Elisa feels like she should have more freedom but can’t necessarily have it because she's a woman. As the setting shifts, Steinbeck begins to reveal more about the main character Elisa. In the nest setting, the author describes it through Elia's point of view, where she states “I've never lived as you do, but I know what you mean. When the night is dark — why, the stars are sharp-pointed, and there's quiet. Why, you rise up and up! Every pointed star gets driven into your body. It's like that. Hot and sharp and — lovely." Elisa, here is describing what it would seem like if she lived on the wagon, traveling through the
Curley’s wife is a complex, main character in John Steinbeck’s novella, “Of Mice and Men”. She is introduced as an insignificant secondary character, but evidently posses the importance of causing the end of the novella. Despite the weight of her role, her value is hindered because of the culture towards women in the 1930s. Steinbeck uses imagery, foreshadowing, and metaphors to show loneliness analyzed through a Feminist Lens.
During the wake of gender politics in the early twentieth century, Gertrude Stein and Sui Sin Far wrote immigration narratives that feature characters who reject traditional gender norms. As female writers, the intersection of gender, sexuality, and cultural identities inform how each character uses, rejects, reacts to traditional notions of femininity and masculinity. While Mrs. Spring Fragrance by Sui Sin Far and The Good Anna by Gertrude Stein feature characters that challenge traditional gender roles and assert their agency, The Good Anna features characters that challenge gender roles directly by not fitting into gendered expectations. Mrs. Spring Fragrance, on the other hand, features characters that seem to follow gender roles as prescribed
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).