The Chrysanthemums is a fiction novel written by John Steinbeck. The title The Chrysanthemums comes from the name of a flower Elisa Allen loves to grow in her garden. The symbolism behind The Chrysanthemums represents loneliness, femininity, and marital status of women during the depression era. In The Chrysanthemums the key symbols that the story revolves around are The Chrysanthemums, The Weed Eater, The Machine Shed, and The Garden. The chrysanthemum is a type of flower Elisa Allen loves to grow in her garden; she takes pride in it.
However, one day Henry Allen comes home with an electric weed eater that he uses to destroy all of Elisa’s hard work on her flowers. The second symbol is The Weed Eater which Henry purchases without his wife’s consent or knowledge; after bringing it home he proceeds to clear out nearly all of Elisa’s Chrysanthemum flowers in their back yard. The machine shed represents masculinity since men like Henry find power within objects like The Weed Eater. The last symbol in The Chrysanthemums is The Garden which represents femininity.
The garden represents Elisa’s attempt to find a sense of power and control. Loneliness: A key theme in the novel The Chrysanthemums is loneliness, for Elisa it is demonstrated when her husband brings home The Weed Eater without asking for her consent or knowledge; he then proceeds to clear out nearly all of Elisa’s Chrysanthemum flowers. This causes Elisa to become lonely and shows that she wants more than just housework and gardening because she had once loved singing with Tannie but since Henry got rid of The Machine Shed she can no longer do so.
Femininity: key theme in John Steinbeck’s The Chrysanthemums is femininity, demonstrated through Elisa’s character. The chrysanthemum symbolizes femininity since it represents the flower Elisa loves to grow in her garden; she takes pride in it. The Weed Eater, which Henry purchases without his wife’s consent or knowledge; after bringing it home he proceeds to clear out nearly all of Elisa’s flowers. The machine shed represents masculinity since men like Henry find power within objects like The Weed Eater.
Last but not least, The Garden symbolizes femininity because this is where Elisa spends most of her time and elsewhere women are meant to be submissive. However, The Garden is the only place where it seems as though Elisa has power since there she is in control. The garden represents Elisa’s attempt to find a sense of power and control; The Garden is surrounded by The Machine Shed which symbolizes masculinity, The Weed Eater also demonstrates The Machine Shed’s masculinity since it has the capability of chopping plants down with its sharp blades.
Elisa does not want The Machine Shed anymore so she takes matters into her own hands and chops it down herself without Henry’s consent or knowledge thus finding more femininity within The Garden. Marital Status: The Chrysanthemums contains symbols that represent marital status of women during the depression era including The House, The Basket, The Old Ones, and The Gate. A key symbol that represents marital status is The House. The house symbolizes Elisa’s feeling that she is trapped in her own home just like the flowers, The Chrysanthemums are trapped in The Garden.
The basket also represents marital status since women during this time would typically be occupied with doing household tasks, while The Basket symbolizes how women were imprisoned to their traditional roles of wives and mothers during the depression era. The Gate is another key symbol which represents marital status; The Gate keeps people out and not many can get past it while The Old Ones represent female relatives who cannot be passed even if they wanted to. Thus, The Gate suggests marriage since few could pass through The Gate but when Henry comes home he easily gets through indicating that he holds more power than Elisa within The House.
The Gate also symbolizes the separation between The Garden and The Machine Shed, where Elisa has more power, femininity. The Chrysanthemums is a book that was written during the 1930s to describe how women were neglected by their husbands who focused solely on themselves instead of thinking about what their wives wanted or needed because they continuously brought home things without asking for consent or knowledge which made it seem as though men had all of the control in marriages.
The symbolism found in The Chrysanthemums represents what life was like during the depression era by illustrating how women felt trapped within their homes since they had no voice; they were unable to express how they felt or allowed to make decisions that would benefit them at times. The chrysanthemum as well as The Gate symbolize the confinement that women felt during this time.
The men in The Chrysanthemums pay no attention to what actually matters such as their marital status and instead focus on unimportant things like The Machine Shed, The Weed Eater which could have been a sign of masculinity but it does not provide power or strength but rather takes away from a man’s ability to be powerful, masculine if he focuses too much on objects rather than his wife.
The symbolism used throughout The Chrysanthemums demonstrates how marriage was greatly affected by the depression era due to the fact that husbands often neglected their wives, who at times took extreme measures just to find a voice within The where they could speak up for what mattered to them or for what they needed. The symbols in The Chrysanthemums also reveal how women during this time felt as though they were imprisoned within The House and The Garden due to The Gate, which symbolizes marital status, The Old Ones who symbolize female relatives who cannot be passed even if they wanted to.
Overall, the symbols used throughout The Chrysanthemums provide a clear picture of life during the depression era by presenting a marriage from a woman’s point-of-view while husbands neglected their wives often leaving them feeling trapped within The House and The Garden without power or voice until Elisa finds a way to take control over her own life when she chops down The Machine Shed herself using The Weed Eater before Henry knows anything about The House.
The symbols found in The Chrysanthemums create an image of what life was like during the depression era by demonstrating how women felt imprisoned within The House and The Garden due to The Gate, The Old Ones who represent female relatives that cannot be passed even if they wanted to. A woman’s voice is finally heard when Elisa takes control over The Machine Shed herself with The Weed Eater before Henry knew anything about it.