The_Chrysanthemums_菊花_斯坦貝克

1、英美小說杜蓓蓓020801069楊藝020801061楊佳俊020801095吳燕娟020801090Do you remember The Moon Is Down ?Have you heard of The Grapes of Wrath ?The Chrysanthemumskrisnmm菊花 John SteinbeckJohn SteinbeckBorn :February 27, 1902, in CaliforniaCollege : Stanford University ,but never graduated First famous work: Tortilla Fla

2、t (1935)Characters of his works: social novels dealing with the economic problems of rural laborMajor worksThe Grapes of Wrath Of Mice and MenEast of Eden The PearlCannery RowThe Long ValleyTravels With Charleysummary Elisa Allen and her husband Henry live peacefully on their farm. When Elisa is bus

3、y with her chrysanthemums in the garden, a tinker passes by and asks for work .She refused directly. Later when the man enquires about her chrysanthemums and asks for some “seeds” to bring to“ a lady”, Elisa gets emotional and finds him two pots to mend. The tinker drives away with fifty cents and t

4、he cuttings . When riding on the road with her husband, Elisa sees the chrysanthemum shoots she sent to the lady thrown on the road. She is dismayed and cries sadly .characters Elisa Allen A passionate woman who lives an unsatisfying life. As a result, she devotes all of her energy to maintaining he

5、r house and garden. Elisa is so frustrated with life that she readily looks for stimulating conversation and even sex. The Tinker He is clever and canny enough to convince the skeptical Elisa to give him work, begging at first and finally resorting to flattery. In fact ,he is just a con man.Henry Al

6、len Elisas husband, Henry ,is everything a woman should want in a husband by the standards of his society . He provides for her, treats her with respect. However, Henry is also stolid and unimaginative. Henry functions in the story as a stand-in for patriarchal society as a whole. He believes that a

7、 strict line separates the sexes. Symbols-Chrysanthemums The chrysanthemums symbolize both Elisa and the limited scope of her life. Like Elisa, the chrysanthemums are lovely, strong, and thriving. Their flowerbed, like Elisas house, is tidy and scrupulously ordered. Elisa explicitly identifies herse

8、lf with the flowers, even saying that she becomes one with the plants when she tends to them. When the tinker notices the chrysanthemums, Elisa visibly brightens, just as if he had noticed her instead. She offers the chrysanthemums to him at the same time she offers herself, both of which he ignores

9、 and tosses aside. His rejection of the flowers also mimics the way society has rejected women as nothing more than mothers and housekeepers. Just like her, the flowers are unobjectionable and also unimportant: both are merely decorative and add little value to the world. Symbols- The Salinas Valley

10、 The Salinas Valley symbolizes Elisas emotional life. The story opens with a lengthy description of the valley, which Steinbeck likens to a pot topped with a lid made of fog. The metaphor of the valley as a “closed pot” suggests that Elisa is trapped inside an airless world and that her existence ha

11、s reached a boiling point. We also learn that although there is sunshine nearby, no light penetrates the valley. Sunshine is often associated with happiness, and the implication is that while people near her are happy, Elisa is not. It is December, and the prevailing atmosphere in the valley is chil

12、ly and watchful but not yet devoid of hope. This description of the weather and the general spirits of the inhabitants of the valley applies equally well to Elisa, who is like a fallow field: quiet but not beaten down or unable to grow. What first seems to be a lyrical description of a valley in Cal

13、ifornia is revealed to be a rich symbol of Elisas claustrophobic, unhappy, yet hopeful inner life. Symbols- fog and rain fog and rain do not go together ” Fog and rain can be seen as the female and male equivalents to Elisa and Henry, respectively: the former all too indistinct, and the latter altog

14、ether absent When Henry comes over after talking with the men, he speaks with Elisa about going out for dinner. He also suggests they go to the fights. When she mentions she is not interested, he backs down very easily. This exchange between the couple clues the reader in to the lack of conflict in

15、their marriage. Symbols- Fences Fences symbolize the barriers that separate Elisa from the rest of the world, including her husband Henry. Her fences protect flower garden from cattle, dogs, and chickens which represent her husbands world while her flower garden represents Elisas world. “He had come

16、 near quietly, and leaned over the wire fence .” This shows that Henry is always treading softly around Elisa, courteous but always leaning over careful not to intrude into the womans world . The Tinkers caravan pulls “up to Elisas wire fence and stops .” The Tinker, bearer of outside influences beg

17、ins by resting his hands on the wire fence and made it sing . As the meeting progresses and Elisas sexuality is awakening the Tinker begins to “l(fā)ean confidently over the fence and eventually penetrates Elisas barrier to come “through the gate .” The Tinkers entrance into the gate represents Elisas p

18、assions fully released and she is no longer completely isolated. Elisas fence helped to divide her from the outside world full of influences and from a husband who was not completely aware of her. Symbols- Clothing Elisas clothing changes as her muted, masculine persona becomes more feminine after t

19、he visit from the tinker. When the story begins, Elisa is wearing an androgynous gardening outfit, complete with heavy shoes, thick gloves, a mans hat, and an apron filled with sharp, phallic implements. The narrator even describes her body as “blocked and heavy.” The masculinity of Elisas clothing

20、and shape reflects her asexual existence. After speaking with the tinker, however, Elisa begins to feel intellectually and physically stimulated, a change that is reflected in the removal of her gloves. She also removes her hat, showing her lovely hair. When the tinker leaves, Elisa undergoes an alm

21、ost ritualistic transformation. She strips, bathes herself, examines her naked body in the mirror, and then dresses. She chooses to don fancy undergarments, a pretty dress, and makeup. These feminine items contrast sharply with her bulky gardening clothes and reflect the newly energized and sexualiz

22、ed Elisa. At the end of the story, after Elisa has seen the castoff shoots, she pulls up her coat collar to hide her tears, a gesture that suggests a move backward into the repressed state in which she has lived most, if not all, of her adult life. Symbols- red flower pot Elisa lets the tinker into

23、the yard, she goes and gets a bright red flower pot. The red is important here because red is the symbol of power and passion. At this point in the story, Elisa is beginning to feel her own power. She is realizing she can bring forth life in her flowers, even if she is not powerful in other aspects

24、of her life. Also, since the encounter with the tinker is likened to a sexual experience, the red flower pot is significant of their passion. The pot is symbolic of her self and her feelings. ThemesThe Inequality of Gender “The Chrysanthemums” is an understated but pointed critique of a society that has no place for intelligent women. Elisa is smart, energetic, attractive, and ambitious, but all these attributes go to waste. Henry is not as intelligent as Elisa, but it is he who runs the ranch, support