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Inequality Of Gender In The Chrysanthumums By John Steinbeck

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In the short story, The chrysanthumums by John Steinbeck, there are many interpretations of theme. The most relevant is inequality of gender. The main character, Eliza, is smart, ambitous, and confident but her talent goes to waste since women were only supposed to fill stereotypical housewife roles. Society seems to have no place for intelligent women like Eliza of that time period. The crysanthumums depicts strict gender roles and how society expects women to be passive.

When Eliza shows interest in the tinker’s profession he states, "It ain't the right kind of a life for a woman." implying that women shouldn’t or couldn’t do labor intensive jobs. Any person, of any gender could do a job like the tinker if they had Eliza’s determination and intellegence. The tinker, like many other men in the story, believes that women should fill traditional roles and stay away from “manly” jobs often because they believe women are too weak or emotional. …show more content…

If she was a man, she would be praised for her ambition and be encouraged to do tinkering. Since she is a woman society doesn’t care how talented she is because a man will always be seen as better than her just because he is a

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