The Chrysanthemums

The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck is a story filled with gender specific ideas, as well as the main character, Elisa Allen, desire to break down these gender related roles. Right away she is described as “handsome” and “over-powerful” (632). These are two words I would not generally associate with women. Later on while the traveling potsmith was talking about sleeping in his wagon as he worked up and down the pacific coast Elisha said “It must be nice, it must be very nice. I wish women could do such things” (637). I believe that Elisha is expressing her contempt for the socially acceptable role for a woman should be. She has been stuck in a rut for a long time and is beginning to wonder if maybe she has missed out on all that life has to offer. To me the most glaring of the gender issues was before Elisa and her husband Henry went into town for dinner he said that she looked “strong” (638) when he first saw her all cleaned up and wearing her dress. Strong is an interesting choice of word. I would not usually think of a female in her best dress as strong.
Gender specific ideas were a constant theme throughout this story and show a lot about the characters.