In a literary work, it becomes difficult to conceptually understand a passage without visualizing all aspects and underlying meanings. The novel “The Chrysanthemums” is the main topic of the essay. Here I would like to reveal thematic sections that can be set up to highlight that the relationship between Henry and Elisa parallels a society with the injustice of the inability to treat a woman as an equal. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The Chrysanthemums was published in 1937 by an American writer. When teaching this literary work, I would start with the context behind it. In the 1930s, the United States was under the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt and was experiencing the end of the Great Depression, a social and political catastrophe. “It was a time of quiet and waiting.” Organized women's suffrage movements remained small and relatively weak, although it was the beginning of recovery from the "worst economic recession in U.S. history." The story is relative to the story because the protagonist, Elisa Allen, is a woman who is given little to no attention as she has been portrayed as a wife living in the shadow of her husband, Henry Allen. The main characters are heavily involved in their roles in society, Elisa takes care of her chrysanthemums while her husband deals with businessmen, issues in which women should not be involved. The Chrysanthemums is based on a society that has little to no respect for a woman's worth, a society that believes that women should take care of the home and take care of the needs of its children. Through the relationship between Elisa and Henry, Steinbeck is able to convey a sense of what America was like socially in the 1930s, a society with gender inequality. After teaching the history of the 1930s, I would provide more information about our characters. Starting with Henry Allen, Elisa's husband and successful businessman, "Across the river, on the ranch at the foot of Henry Allen, there was little work to do...". He is kind and respectful to Elisa, offers her dinners, compliments her beauty and her gardening work while she takes care of her chrysanthemums. Although he is very kind to her, he does not truly appreciate Elisa due to society's traditional view of male dominance. He can't imagine expecting anything from her other than taking care of the house and garden, which is why he doesn't understand her dissatisfaction with their relationship. Henry also ignores his personal desires and emotional needs. He ignores her desire to have children and doesn't give her the proper attention she wants, which Elisa fills that void through other interactions in the story. Following the context, I would begin to recognize the setting. The setting is described directly in the first paragraph of the story: “The high flannel-gray fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world.” In other words, it takes place on a ranch located in Salinas Valley, California, specifically in winter, mid-afternoon. In the 1930s many fled to California to find new lands to settle and find riches. The environment is described as isolated, depressing and "a closed box". The imagery of the setting prefigures a closed role in society. Going back to the context of the story, this was a time when women were not given opportunities. Elisa is isolated in her role in society as she has limited mobility in her relationship and a closed sense of hope for the attention she craves. Elisa Allen is an attractive woman, but the reader has no sense offemininity. “Elisa Allen, working in her flower garden, looked across the yard and saw Henry, her husband, talking to two men in suits.” Once introduced into the story, we can conclude that she is a person of shy, silent and curious character who could also be considered a hardworking woman, but is overlooked because she is a woman and a farmer's wife. «He was thirty-five years old. His thin, strong face and his eyes as clear as water. His figure blocked and heavy in the gardening costume, a black man's hat pulled down over his eyes...". As Jane Smiley once said: “I am thirty-five years old and I seem to have reached the age of sorrow. Others arrive earlier. Almost no one arrives much later. I don't think it's the years themselves, or the disintegration of the body. Most of our bodies are better cared for and more beautiful than ever. We know what it is, now that, despite ourselves, we have stopped to think about it. It's not just the fact that we know that love ends, that children are kidnapped, that parents die feeling that their lives were meaningless. It's not just that many acquaintances and friends have now died, and everyone else sooner or later gets ready." Elisa is at the peak of her life not only physically, but also mentally and sexually and is no longer at a young age but not even on the brink of death. Because of her physical attire, the labor she is going through, and the inappropriate way her husband compliments her, the reader is led to conclude that she is a woman with male psychics. Elisa is ambitious, when her husband compliments her on her work in the garden and jokes that she can work in the orchard, she is immediately enthusiastic but just as quickly loses interest when he changes the subject. Henry is unable to understand her interests and rejects the idea because he does not believe that a woman can do such a man's job. He thirsts for independence, freedom and self-expression. The relationship between Henry and Eliza illuminated the conflict of male dominance in society as their genders describe their roles in society. Eliza is disinterested and frustrated by her relationship with her husband, she has no children or romantic attention. She is unhappy with the role she is experiencing in life. The Tinkerer is physically, directly characterized in the story, “Elisa saw that he was a very big man. Although his hair and beard had turned gray, he did not look old.” He is ignorant, poor and dirty. Travels to repair other people's broken household items. Indirectly, he is described as manipulative and dishonest: “The laughter was gone from his face and eyes the moment his laughing voice stopped. His eyes were dark, and were full of the thoughtfulness that is in the eyes of carters and sailors.” As he interacts with Elisa, to solicit business, his thoughts and actions become deceptive, only helping him gain profit at the cost of manipulating her. As a man in society, he is allowed to freely attract clients and get what he wants through his lies, further reinforcing the role of male dominance in the 1930s. Finally, to bring context and characterization together, I would finish by explaining the plot through quotes in the story. The fence suggests that her husband is protecting "her flower garden from the cattle, dogs and chickens", which means that her husband does not believe that she is capable of dealing with life in a "man's" world, underlining the his isolation and the division between the world of a man and a woman. The enclosure houses Eliza's chrysanthemums. This is important because at first the reader understands that she is married with no children. He takes care of his garden as if he were to take care of his children, but the garden begins to change symbolically later on.