Discussing the Chrysanthemums Essay example -- English Literature

Discussing the ChrysanthemumsIn studying the various schools of criticism and using them to delineate the inner workings of novels, suddenly stories, and poems, itbecomes app arent that they all share a common detailor a theme. Thetheme of a story is the popular idea or insight, which is revealed bythe entire story (Kennedy, 195). Although there are many themes thatseem to be sympathetic, it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to find tostories with identical themes. ii stories with similar themes,however, are The Chrysanthemums, by John Steinbeck, and The YellowWallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. These deuce stories show thedamage caused by male domination in the past.The short story The Chrysanthemums gives insight into the life ofits author John Steinbeck was born(p) on February 27, 1902, in Salinas,California. The locale of the story is of key resemblance to theSalinas in which Steinbeck was born and bread. Salinas was a typicalAmerican small town, differing only in post ure and a fewdistinctive features (McCarthy 3). The story begins by displaying thesetting The juicy grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the SalinasValley from the sky and the stand-in of the world.Though this does non directly illustrate the theme, the setting playsa character reference in building enzyme-linked-immunosorbent serologic assay Allens prison. The main protagonist inThe Chrysanthemums, Elisa Allen, is a mid-aged housewife who alsohas a resentment for growing chrysanthemums. This passion expressed inthe planting of these flowers brings out the suppressed romance in herlife. The fact that she is childless seems to have sublimated hermotherly instincts to produce phenomenal flowers. Nevertheless,the plants and flowers cannot compensate for t... ...nius soon tells Ophelia that she must seek out critical point. Much to her dismay, Hamlet rejects her, and this begins adownward spiral for Ophelia. She begins acting in a down in the mouth fashion,and everyone begins t o think she has gone mad. Unfortunately, all thenegative light placed upon Ophelia leads to her death. It is notcertain whether she was murdered or whether she in fact committedsuicide, entirely she came to a tragic end by drowning.The events in Hamlet and The Chrysanthemums, though different inappearance show a very similar topic. The problem of male dominance isshown in both situations to devastate the emotions of the women. Inshowing respect and obedience for the male characters, the females arein fact hurting themselves. This theme of male dominance destroyingthe psyche of women has been, and will go forward to be a major theme inliterature.