John Steinbeck's The Chrysanthemums

The most appropriate literary critical theory for John Steinbeck’s, The Chrysanthemums, is the psychological approach because Elisa’s conscious and unconscious imbalance, usage of defense mechanisms, and unsatisfiable lifestyle wholly possess the features of the psychoanalytical critical theory. To begin, Elisa’s id seldom overrides her conscience, which presents the depths of her motives. This is apparent when Elise, “... touched the under edge of her man's hat, searching for fugitive hairs...Kneeling there, her hand went out toward his legs in the greasy black trousers. Her hesitant fingers almost touched the cloth” (Steinbeck 5). Her acts of flirtation are extremely passive as her superego represses her sexual urges because she is

Therefore, the intricacies of Elisa’s soul, primarily match with the psychological approach. Next, Elisa adopts the defense mechanism of rebellion to mask her fragility. Evidently, after Elisa finds the Tinker’s chrysanthemums on the road, she asks Henry, “"could we have wine at dinner?"..."Henry, at those prize fights, do the men hurt each other very much?"” Henry replies to his wife’s hint at attending a fight, “"...I don't think you'd like it, but I'll take you if you really want to go"” (Steinbeck 7). On the outside, Elisa craves to portray herself with an ambience of adventure and liberty through these cheap thrills, but realistically and authentically, she is a fragile woman; her immediate reaction of utilizing a defense mechanism, from the Tinker rejecting her gift, reveals the sensitive and delicate nature of her psyche. Additionally, she cannot balance her superego that abides by social roles of conventional femininity, or her id urges of attending the fight. Much like society’s ordeals with repudiation, Elisa’s faces rejection in a bitter and toxic manner.

In support of Dr. Mortimer Adler’s ideology, Steinbeck’s short story is a phenomenal work of literature as his story helps readers to comprehend the people of the past. This is clear as the story is arguably solely written in Elisa’s perspective, meaning everything she perceives, factual or not, is exactly what readers observe. Justifyingly, when Henry compliments her appearance, Elisa answers, “"Nice? You think I look nice? What do you mean by 'nice'?"” She then illustrates Henry’s behaviour, “He looked bewildered. "You're playing some kind of a game," he said helplessly” (Steinbeck 6). Given Elisa’s resistant behaviour, her point of view is biased, which ultimately skews the reader’s viewpoint of the situation as an ambiguous dialogue. Nonetheless, the audience gains a thorough insight of Elisa’s personality and subconscious. From this intimate exposure, readers are aware of past society’s social beliefs and customs, in which only great books can do as Adler deems since learning about history helps people to recognize and analyze current social progressions. Similarly, civilization’s constant development, expansion, and evolution confirm how The Chrysanthemums is irrelevant in today’s society. From the expansion of female empowerment through feminism regarding