Only recently have women gained their status as people and obtained equality in society. Not too long ago, women were unable to receive the same rights and acknowledgement as their male counterparts. In Steinbeck’s short story, “The Chrysanthemums”, Elisa Allen, the protagonist, is a perfect example of a women suffocated by the restrictions of gender. He accurately depicts the life of an unsatisfied woman, unable to voice her wants and needs in a male dominated society. As women were unable to express their true desires, many developed hobbies in which they found comfort in. In Elisa’s case, she found a form of contentment in raising her garden. On a deeper perspective, the flowers represent more than a simple hobby; the chrysanthemums symbolize …show more content…
Isolated, as a female who has no place in the male dominated world; much like her her chrysanthemums, which are contained within the lines of the fencing. Not only that, but while the fences are a symbol of her separation from the world, the set paths and orderly rows in her garden represent the society she lives in that tells her how to think, act, where she must go what boundaries are set for her. However, unlike her husband, who represents a society that is ignorant to its inequality, Elisa attempts to build and raise something outside of society’s jurisdiction: hope. Her ability to raise and care for the chrysanthemums is an outlet for what she cannot do in the real world. As a woman who quietly holds onto her need for freedom, her ability to be responsible for the life of her flowers and tend to them represents the need for some kind of control in her life. In another way, the chrysanthemums also symbolize Elisa as being simply an attractive object, similar to a bouquet of flowers. She is not required or expected to achieve great things, but instead is made to lead a quiet life according to society’s