Character Study of Eliza Henry
Eliza Henry is a talented, strong-willed woman who will not take charge of her own life. In other words, she is a mass of contradictions. On one hand she yearns to leave her prison of a marriage for a more exciting and fulfilling life. On the other, Eliza realizes the limitations pressed upon women and does the best she can to make her situation better. Eliza realizes her marriage is in trouble, there is no passion between her and her husband, but she insists on staying because she believes that is what women in her position are supposed to do. "You made your bed, now lie in it" seems to be her motto. Eliza throws herself into her housework and her gardening. In fact, she cares for her Chrysanthemums as if they were her own children. There will always be a conflict in her mind as to what she could do with her life and what she has to do as a married woman. On the outside Eliza seems to be a cheerful, lively person; but she suffers tremendously internally. She devotes her time and energy to her home and gardens, she has a "hard swept looking house with hard polished windows and a clean mud mat on the front steps". All of Eliza's excess energy is devoted to her flower garden. From
Any opportunity she sees to get dressed up and make herself beautiful, she seizes. "John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums": A Woman Bound by Society" http://wwwnhc. legs and thighs, loins and chest and arms, until her skin was scratched and red". "She makes sure 'no aphids, no sowbugs or snails or cutworms' are there. Henry will never know the woman he married, or everything she has involuntarily given up to stay with him, nor does he care. Like most parents who live vicariously through their children, this seemed to comfort Eliza. Her fear in the unknown and her knowledge of the role of women in her world are the only things that keep her from leaving her husband. In conclusion, Eliza Henry is a woman who knows exactly what she wants out of life, but is too afraid to go for because of societal pressures and her own internal demons. Eliza realizes she does not have much of a marriage anymore, she even finds herself physically attracted to an old, dirty tinker that shows up at her farm looking for work.
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