Women's Role in Steinbeck's N
John Steinbeck was born in 1902 in the Salinas Valley in California. This is also the setting for most of his early works in the 1930s. It is two of these works "The Chrysanthemums" and "The White Quail" that I will focus on when explaining the role of women in Steinbeck's novels during this period. The women in "The Chrysanthemums" and "The White Quail" are used to show the reader the inner strength, frustration and antagonism of women in the 1930s who will never realize their full potential. Elisa Allen in "The Chrysanthemums" and Mary Teller in "The White Quail" use Mother Nature for their inner strength. Elisa demonstrates this in a conversation with her husband about her chrysanthemums. " 'You've got a gift with things,' Henry observed. 'Some of those yellow chrysanthemums you had this year were ten inches across. I wish you'd work out in the orchard and raise some apples that big.' Her eyes sharpened. 'Maybe I could do it, too. I've a gift with things, all right' " ( Steinbeck 5). In this instance you get the feeling that Alisa feels extremely confident in her abilities to work with all things that are planted and that there is nothing she can't grow if only she put
Harry expresses this when he tells Mary " 'But I'm afraid of you, too. There's an inscrutability about you. She believes this until she sees the flowers she gave him lying in the road and realizes that not only the tinker, but also the rest of the world will never see her as an equal. In dealing with these frustrations the reader can recognize the antagonism that is created between the each women, their mates and the outside world. She continues this antagonistic attitude towards the tinker when she tells him " 'You might be surprised to have a rival some time. In Elisa's case she takes such great pride in her ability to grow chrysanthemums that she becomes blind to the tinker's ruse. Harry gives us the first hint of the frustration he is feeling by expressing these feelings to Mary. I mean you look different, strong and happy. This passage clearly shows the reader that Elisa just wants someone to pay attention to her and it doesn't matter who. If anything should be changed it would be like part of me being torn out" (24). Elisa's antagonism first manifests itself when talking about her gift "Oh, those are chrysanthemums, giant whites and yellows.
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Acceptance Essays
