Femininity In The Chrysanthemums

In the early nineteenth century, John Steinbeck wrote a short story titled “The Chrysanthemums” that broke ground on the repressed sexuality of women in that era. Women of the nineteenth century were extremely repressed by the patriarchal society that was in power in that era, so they often were not able to express their femininity and their sexuality. The Nineteenth century woman that “The Chrysanthemums” follows is Elisa Allen, a middle aged farmer's wife. Elisa dresses rather mannish in the beginning and throughout most of the story, excluding of course at the end of the story when she wears a dress to go out to town. Elisa is also exuberantly passionate about her chrysanthemums and her sexuality and femininity is linked directly to her flowers. Elisa felt dirty for expressing her sexuality towards the traveler, so to clean herself, she uses the rough pumice rock on her body.. Regarding the clothing that Elisa wears throughout the majority of the story; her clothes are heavy and they hide her figure whilst also working symbolically as a physical representation of her repressed sexuality and femininity,” Her figure looked blocked and heavy in her gardening costume, a man's black hat pulled low down over her eyes, clodhopper shoes, a figured print dress almost completely covered by a large corduroy apron with four immense pockets to hold the snips, the trowel and scratcher, the seeds

Elisa Allen’s sexuality may be repressed still at the conclusion of this story, but it does seem to be more out at least physically seeing as her outfit changed and she cleansed herself of her indiscretions leaving only what is repressing her on the inside left being her last obstacle. So with Elisa giving into her forced role of femininity and repressed her sexuality when she donned her new, more feminine,