The Crysanthemums by J Steinbeck

John Steinbeck captures the sense of the constrained woman and her sense of isolation in his short story The Chrysanthemums. The definition of constrained is: To compel by physical, moral, or circumstantial force. The feminist perspective focuses on unjust social practices that limit any group of people. Elisa Allen, the main protagonist, is a very lonely and depressed woman. She is isolated from the world, she feels frustrated with her marriage and she wants nothing more than a sense of connection to the world outside her garden gate, illustrating the general sentiment of women everywhere who were frustrated in their attempts to connect with the greater world. Every element of the story highlights this deeper meaning, only ending as Elisa is “crying weakly – like an old woman.” (Steinbeck, 2011, para.120). The rules of gender in Elisa’s era limited her to many activities. Filled with pure intentions but a need to play a part in life, Elisa’s actions as she tends her chrysanthemums, talks with the tinker and in her relationship with Henry all emphasize her overpowering sense of isolation and desperate need for a larger world.
In every way, Elisa is constrained throughout the story. This is seen physically as she works in her garden space which is symbolically place away from everyone else around.   Although dedicated to her garden, Elisa constantly wonders what the men with her husband are talking about not far away. The affection she gives to her flowers demonstrates how much she has to give to others while the tension in her hands as she snaps off flower heads shows her frustration at being excluded and set apart. Steinbeck says, “The chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for her energy,” (Steinbeck, 2011, para.5), but her flowers are the nicest flowers around. Even the weather confines her: “The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world. On every side it sat like a lid on the mountains and...