The Chrysanthemums takes place in a society that has no place for intelligent women. Elisa Allen is smart and has other attributes that go to waste since she is a women. The two men in this story Henry and the tinker are less talented than Elisa but have am more fulfilling and busy life. Henry is shown to be less intelligent but he runs the ranch, supports himself and wife, and makes business deals. All Elisa does is watch from afar while getting vague and condescending answers from her husband who doesn't see her as an equal. The tinker is smarter than Henry but doesn’t have Elisa’s thirst for adventure. While he tries to convince Elisa to let him fix her stuff, she comes to the conclusion that he can’t match her skills as a tinker. Even though