Little Woman, Small World Essay -- Literary Analysis

In a small world, there is not much choice for a simple woman. Throughout history, women often are portrayed as the weaker sex. As a result of this assumption, women try to disassociate themselves from this custom and be more unaffiliated with their lives. One of John Steinbecks most accomplished short stories, The Chrysanthemums, a story which concerns a married couple and examines Elisas dissatisfaction with her life. The story takes limit in the Salinas Valley of California in December at Henry Allens ranch in the foothills. Elisa is a woman whose life is narrow, unmoving and limited in what she can become by geography and opportunity. She is feeling trapped in a life of servitude and is suppressing a yearning for more. Therefore, Elisa takes a bold step towards her own providence. In The Chrysanthemums, by Steinbeck, Elisa is portrayed as distaff, subservient, and conservative, but through the reality is that she is instead a masculine, frustrated, and sensual universe who w ants more out of life than her husband Henry offers her. Her portrayal shows her dissatisfaction in life.First characteristic of Elisa is found in a traditional feminine role, working in her garden however, the narrator describes her appearance using words associated with manliness. For example, her gardening clothes conceal her femininity with a mans grisly hatclodhopper shoesa big corduroy apronand heavy leather gloves (460). Her description does not focus on her feminine characteristics, and she could well be mistaken as a man from the distance. Elisa is gardening and tending her flowers which symbolize of her femininity, but contradicting this femininity is her strength. Steinbeck illustrates Elisas energy as she works in the garden t... ...Works CitedAkers, Tim, ed. Vol. 6. Short Stories for Students. Detroit The Gale Group, 1999. 59-82. Print. Mazzeno, Laurence W., ed. Vol. 2. Masterplots The Big Sky- The Confidential Clerk. 4th ed. Pasadena California Salem Press, 2011. 1 011-12. Print.Palmerino, Gregory J. Steinbecks The Chrysanthemums. Explicator 62.3 (2004) 164-167. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Claire Carney Library.Schultz, Jeffrey D, and Luchen Li. Critical Companion to John Steinbeck A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York Facts On File, 2005. Print.Steinbeck, John. The Chrysanthemums. Literature Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. Robert DiYanni. Second ed. Boston New York University, 2008. 459-66. Print.Timmerman, John H. The Dramatic Landscape of Steinbecks Short Stories. Norman University of okay Press, 1990. 173-79. Print.