Mrs

Published on July 2016 | Categories: Documents | Downloads: 59 | Comments: 0 | Views: 287
of 4
Download PDF   Embed   Report

Comments

Content


Mrs. Henry Allen
Elisa's relationship with her husband makes us lean toward the second option – that Elisa is a
woman repressed. Take a look at their first exchange in the story. She's checking for creepy
crawlies among her chrysanthemums, but she's such an awesome gardener that "her terrier
fingers destroyed such pests before they could get started" !". Elisa is clearly in her element.
#ut when she agrees to $enry's %oking suggestion that she work in the orchard, he dismisses her,
and she changes the sub%ect, perhaps hurt that her husband didn't take that possibility seriously,
or perhaps feeling like it wasn't such a good idea in the first place. She's not about to defiantly
insist she be allowed put down the flowers and pick up a sho&el. 'aybe she doesn't really want
to.
Then, when $enry %okes that they might go to a fight in town, and Elisa "breathlessly" ()"
declines, saying "* wouldn't like fights," ()" as if to say she is a woman – what fun could she
possibly have at such a gruesome event? +ow she's out of her element, and his %oking suggestion
literally takes her breath away. The thought of going to the fight is almost too much for her to
bear. *s she horrified because a woman shouldn't be seen at a fight, -r is she horrified at her own
hidden desire to go, .ike many things about Elisa, this remains a mystery.
/inally, when $enry lea&es her take care of his ranch duties, she tells him, "*'ll ha&e plenty of
time to transplant some of these sets, * guess" (0".
1ait. 1hat, Since when does Elisa "guess" when it comes to chrysanthemums, *f there's one
thing Elisa knows, it's chrysanthemums, and yet here she is, after her con&ersation with her
husband, unsure of her abilities.
Elisa2s husband, $enry, is a good, solid man who2s unable to please his wife. #y the standards of
his society, $enry is e&erything a woman should want in a husband3 he pro&ides for her, treats
her with respect, and e&en takes her out e&ery now and then. 4t the same time, howe&er, $enry
is also stolid and unimaginati&e. $e praises his wife as he would a small child, without
understanding the genuine interest she takes in business or reali5ing that she has the potential to
do so much more with her life. 4 traditional man, $enry functions in the story as a stand6in for
patriarchal society as a whole. $e belie&es that a strict line separates the sexes, that women like
dinner and mo&ies, for example, and that men like fights and ranching. $is bene&olent,
sometimes dismissi&e attitude toward his wife7who is undoubtedly smarter7 highlights
society2s inability to treat women as e8uals.
Elisa Allen
Elisa 4llen is an interesting, intelligent, and passionate woman who li&es an unsatisfying,
understimulated life. She2s thwarted or ignored at e&ery turn3 ha&ing a professional career is not
an option for her, she has no children, her interest in the business side of the ranch goes
unnoticed, her offers of helping her husband to ranch are treated with well6meant condescension,
and her wish to see the world is shrugged off as an unfit desire for a woman to ha&e. 4s a result,
Elisa de&otes all of her energy to maintaining her house and garden. The pride she takes in her
housekeeping is both exaggerated and melancholy. 4lthough she rightly brags about her green
thumb, Elisa2s connection to nature seems forced and not something that comes as naturally as
she claims. She knows a great deal about plants, most likely because as a woman, gardening is
the only thing she has to think about.
Elisa is so frustrated with life that she readily looks to the tinker for stimulating con&ersation and
e&en sex, two elements that seem to be lacking in her life. $er physical attraction to the tinker
and her flirtatious, witty con&ersation with him bring out the best in Elisa, turning her into
something of a poet. $er brief flashes of brilliance in the tinker2s presence show us how much
she is always thinking and feeling and how rarely she gets to express herself. 1hen the prospect
of physical and mental fulfillment disappears with the tinker, Elisa2s de&astation suggests how
dissatisfied she is with her marriage. She2s so desperate to transcend the trap of being a woman
that she seeks any escape, trying to banter with her husband, asking for wine with her dinner, and
e&en expressing interest in the bloody fights that only men usually attend. +one of these will
truly satisfy Elisa, though, and it is doubtful that she2ll e&er find fulfillment.
The Tinker
Elisa ideali5es the &isiting Tinker as exciting and smart, although it2s difficult to tell whether he
is actually either of these things. 4lthough his misspelled ad&ertisement for kitchen implement
repair indicates that he hasn2t had much schooling, the tinker comes across as a witty man who
flirts and banters with Elisa. $e is also cle&er and canny enough to con&ince the skeptical Elisa
to gi&e him work, begging at first and finally resorting to flattery. $is ability to manipulate her
may appeal to Elisa, who is used to manipulating her own husband. *n fact, she seems to relish
the chance to spar with a worthy partner, and the tinker produces an intense reaction in her. *f we
can trust her interpretation of him, he shares her appreciation for tra&el and her interest in a
physical connection. $owe&er, Steinbeck suggests that although the tinker may actually possess
these 8ualities, it is also possible that Elisa merely imagines that he possesses them because she2s
so desperate to talk to someone who understands her. *n fact, the tinker may be bewildered and
embarrassed by her intensity and want only to sell his ser&ices to her. The fact that he tosses
away her chrysanthemum shoots7a symbol of Elisa herself7supports the idea that the tinker
does not share Elisa2s passions at all.
Themes
The Inequality of Gender
9The :hrysanthemums; is an understated but pointed criti8ue of a society that has no place for
intelligent women. Elisa is smart, energetic, attracti&e, and ambitious, but all these attributes go
to waste. 4lthough the two key men in the story are less interesting and talented than she, their
li&es are far more fulfilling and busy. $enry is not as intelligent as Elisa, but it is he who runs the
ranch, supports himself and his wife, and makes business deals. 4ll Elisa can do is watch him
from afar as he performs his %ob. 1hate&er information she gets about the management of the
ranch comes indirectly from $enry, who speaks only in &ague, condescending terms instead of
treating his wife as an e8ual partner. The tinker seems cle&erer than $enry but doesn2t ha&e
Elisa2s spirit, passion, or thirst for ad&enture. 4ccording to Elisa, he may not e&en match her skill
as a tinker. +e&ertheless, it is he who gets to ride about the country, li&ing an ad&enturous life
that he belie&es is unfit for women. Steinbeck uses $enry and the tinker as stand6ins for the
paternalism of patriarchal societies in general3 %ust as they ignore women2s potential, so too does
society.
The Importance of Sexual Fulfillment
Steinbeck argues that the need for sexual fulfillment is incredibly powerful and that the pursuit
of it can cause people to act in irrational ways. Elisa and $enry ha&e a functional but passionless
marriage and seem to treat each other more as siblings or friends than spouses. Elisa is a robust
woman associated with fertility and sexuality but has no children, hinting at the nonsexual nature
of her relationship with $enry. <espite the fact that her marriage doesn2t meet her needs, Elisa
remains a sexual person, a 8uality that Steinbeck portrays as normal and desirable. 4s a result of
her frustrated desires, Elisa2s attraction to the tinker is frighteningly powerful and uncontrollable.
1hen she speaks to him about looking at the stars at night, for example, her language is forward,
nearly pornographic. She kneels before him in a posture of sexual submission, reaching out
toward him and looking, as the narrator puts it, 9like a fawning dog.; *n essence, she puts herself
at the mercy of a complete stranger. The aftermath of Elisa2s powerful attraction is perhaps e&en
more damaging than the attraction itself. $er sexuality, forced to lie dormant for so long,
o&erwhelms her and crushes her spirit after springing to life so suddenly.
Motifs
Clothing
Elisa2s clothing changes as her muted, masculine persona becomes more feminine after the &isit
from the tinker. 1hen the story begins, Elisa is wearing an androgynous gardening outfit,
complete with hea&y shoes, thick glo&es, a man2s hat, and an apron filled with sharp, phallic
implements. The narrator e&en describes her body as 9blocked and hea&y.; The masculinity of
Elisa2s clothing and shape reflects her asexual existence. 4fter speaking with the tinker, howe&er,
Elisa begins to feel intellectually and physically stimulated, a change that is reflected in the
remo&al of her glo&es. She also remo&es her hat, showing her lo&ely hair. 1hen the tinker
lea&es, Elisa undergoes an almost ritualistic transformation. She strips, bathes herself, examines
her naked body in the mirror, and then dresses. She chooses to don fancy undergarments, a pretty
dress, and makeup. These feminine items contrast sharply with her bulky gardening clothes and
reflect the newly energi5ed and sexuali5ed Elisa. 4t the end of the story, after Elisa has seen the
castoff shoots, she pulls up her coat collar to hide her tears, a gesture that suggests a mo&e
backward into the repressed state in which she has li&ed most, if not all, of her adult life.
Symbols
Chrysanthemums
The chrysanthemums symboli5e both Elisa and the limited scope of her life. .ike Elisa, the
chrysanthemums are lo&ely, strong, and thri&ing. Their flowerbed, like Elisa2s house, is tidy and
scrupulously ordered. Elisa explicitly identifies herself with the flowers, e&en saying that she
becomes one with the plants when she tends to them. 1hen the tinker notices the
chrysanthemums, Elisa &isibly brightens, %ust as if he had noticed her instead. She offers the
chrysanthemums to him at the same time she offers herself, both of which he ignores and tosses
aside. $is re%ection of the flowers also mimics the way society has re%ected women as nothing
more than mothers and housekeepers. =ust like her, the flowers are unob%ectionable and also
unimportant3 both are merely decorati&e and add little &alue to the world.
The Salinas Valley
The Salinas >alley symboli5es Elisa2s emotional life. The story opens with a lengthy description
of the &alley, which Steinbeck likens to a pot topped with a lid made of fog. The metaphor of the
&alley as a 9closed pot; suggests that Elisa is trapped inside an airless world and that her
existence has reached a boiling point. 1e also learn that although there is sunshine nearby, no
light penetrates the &alley. Sunshine is often associated with happiness, and the implication is
that while people near her are happy, Elisa is not. *t is <ecember, and the pre&ailing atmosphere
in the &alley is chilly and watchful but not yet de&oid of hope. This description of the weather
and the general spirits of the inhabitants of the &alley applies e8ually well to Elisa, who is like a
fallow field3 8uiet but not beaten down or unable to grow. 1hat first seems to be a lyrical
description of a &alley in :alifornia is re&ealed to be a rich symbol of Elisa2s claustrophobic,
unhappy, yet hopeful inner life.
Point of View
Steinbeck displays an extraordinary ability to del&e into the complexities of a woman2s
consciousness. 9The :hrysanthemums; is told in the third person, but the narration is presented
almost entirely from Elisa2s point of &iew. 4fter the first few paragraphs that set the scene,
Steinbeck shrugs off omniscience and refuses to stray from Elisa2s head. This techni8ue allows
him to examine her psyche and show us the world through her eyes. 1e are put in her shoes and
experience her frustrations and feelings. #ecause she doesn2t know what $enry is discussing
with the men in suits who come to the ranch, we don2t know either. #ecause she sees the tinker
as a handsome man, we do too. #ecause she watches his lips while he fixes her pots, we watch
them with her. 4s a result, we understand more about her longings and character by the end of
the story than her husband does.
Steinbeck2s portrayal of Elisa seems e&en more remarkable considering that he wrote the story in
)?@!, when traditional notions of women and their abilities persisted in 4merica. 'any men
unthinkingly accepted the con&entional wisdom that working husbands and a decent amount of
money were the only things women needed. :onsidered in this light, Steinbeck2s sympathy and
understanding for women are almost shockingly modern. -n the face of it, Elisa seems to in&ite
the disappro&al of traditional men3 she is o&ertly sexual, impatient with her husband, and
dissatisfied with her life. Aet Steinbeck ne&er condemns her and instead portrays the waste of her
talent, energy, and ambition as a tragedy. *nstead of asking us to %udge Elisa harshly, he in&ites us
to understand why she acts the way she does. 4s a result, his attitude toward her is more
characteristic of a modern6day feminist than of a mid6twentieth6century male writer.

Sponsor Documents

Or use your account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Forgot your password?

Or register your new account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link to create a new password.

Back to log-in

Close