"The Chrysanthemums" by John Steinbeck, and "The Painted Door" by Sinclair Ross, are two thought-provoking and unique short stories. Both stories focus on feminism during the mid-19th century. Both John Steinbeck and Sinclair Ross through their story are focused on their main character's frustration with their marriage, their sense of isolation from the world, and their hidden desire to express themselves as a woman. In a sense, both authors focus on the "unsatisfied lifestyle" of their main characters. "The Chrysanthemums" and "The Painted Door", when approached from the archetypal viewpoint of "unsatisfied lifestyle" have comparable characters, symbols, and plots.
             The main character of "The Chrysanthemums" and "The Painted Door" are comparable from the archetypal viewpoint of "unsatisfied lifestyle". Elisa Allen, the main character of "The Chrysanthemums" and Ann, the main character of "The Painted Door" both live an unsatisfied lifestyle. In "The Chrysanthemums", the reason for Elisa Allen's unsatisfied lifestyle was her frustration with her marriage and her husband's failure to admire her romantically as a woman. Elisa's appearance, actions, and speech depict the frustration women as a whole felt in Steinbeck's masculine world of the 1930s.
             In this story, this frustration was evident when Elisa was first introduced. Her figure was described as "blocked and heavy" because she was wearing heavy gloves, heavy shoes, a "man's black hat," and a big apron that hides her printed dress (Steinbeck 330). Her home had the masculine qualities of being "hard-swept" and "hard-polished" (Steinbeck 330). This shows that Elisa was unhappy with the traditional female role and was attempting to extend her abilities into masculine areas. In the story when her husband, Henry, comments about her "strong" chrysanthemum crop, Elisa was pleased by the manliness the word implies, but her husband then reminds her of her femininity by offering her a...