Comparison between Elisa and Mrs. Mallard
Elisa in “The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck and Mrs. Mallard in “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin have a lot in common due to the similar struggles the characters experience. The two stories show how a society can restrict women to limited responsibilities and cage them into marriage roles. At the start of each narrative the women (that is Elisa and Mrs. Mallard) are demonstrated as the ideal housewife of that time. Elisa is characterized in the image of her beautiful garden and Mrs. Mallard’s husband and duties defines her as particularly just a wife. The two narrations exposes the readers to how Elisa and Mrs. Mallard feel constricted to their gender persona suffocated to the male dominance. The two characters demonstrate how the females of their time had to face the sad reality of gender inequality and lacking a unique identity.
Both Elisa and Mrs. Mallard were grisly unhappy and lonely in their marriages. The first instance that the reader can capture this in “The Chrysanthemums” narrative is when Steinbeck writes that “Her hesitant fingers almost touched the cloth….she crouched low like a frowning dog…..she stood up very straight, her face was ashamed” (Thomas, 234). The description shows that Elisa desired for a passionate intimate relationship that she was literally throwing herself to the Tinker. Eventually she realizes that the action of her flirting with a man who was not her husband was wrong and she stopped. On the other hand, Mrs. Mallard unhappiness in marriage is not clearly shown in the book, Chopin’s narration shows that she was by how happy she becomes at the announcement that her husband is died. The fact all Mrs. Mallard thought of is the freedom to her soul and her body suggests that she was unsatisfied with both the life she had as a wife and the marriage (Chopin 1981). If Mrs. Mallard felt contended with her marriage life the death of her husband would bring devastation rather than the obsession of freedom, she would at least mourn the death of her partner before quickly inviting the idea of freedom.
Secondly, Elisa and Mrs. Mallard crave the same sense of manumission from the housewife label. “The Story of an Hour” describes the Mrs. Mallard desire for liberation by presenting the tale of her husband’s death. When she gets the information about the death she locks herself in a room and starts to visualize on the benefits she can now enjoy. Actualizing the newly acquired liberation, Mrs. Mallard points out that “the coming years she would live for herself and no one else would live for her” (73). Throughout the rest of the narrative, she talked to herself how free her soul and her body was now that she is set free from the housewife constraints. Mrs. Mallard creates the illusion of her own independence and she is fascinated by the idea that in the absence of her husband she is free to live in her own desired way. Similarly, Elisa in “The Chrysanthemums” story shows the same desire to break from the housewife lifestyle she is confined. Steinbeck describes Elisa and Henry as couple very much in love but she is dislikes the idea that Henry only sees her as a housewife; more precisely a woman narrowed by gender roles, defined by culture and marriage. The reader can see the displayed Elisa’s inferior role in the relationship when the couple goes out in nice restaurant to celebrate Henry’s win of selling his cattle for a good price. Before the celebration the couple jokingly converses about “price fights.” Elisa enquires from her husband, if women do go to the price fights as a suggestion that she wanted do more than the usual activities of gardening (237). When Henry asks Elisa if she wants attend the “fights”, she finds it hard to explain to her husband why she was showing the interest and how participating the “price fights” could help her feel better about her life and she instead says she probably would not like it. Then when Henry agrees with her that she would not be interested in the price fights it confirms to Elisa’s feelings of being confined to the housewife roles and her husband seeing her only as wife and not as someone who cannot do something different. Later on in the story Elisa starts to picture herself as an “old woman” ( Chopin, 238)).something which shows that she felt less satisfied with her life.
Thirdly, the two women also fail at becoming anything else than housewives. Although, Mrs. Mallard achieves independence, which only lasts for a short while until she learns that her husband is still alive. The moment she lays eyes on him Mrs. Mallard collapses and dies probably due to the disbelieve that he is still alive. On the other hand, Elisa never has the experience of short living under freedom. Therefore, both Mrs. Mallard and Elisa also show the helplessness they felt being trapped in their marriage lives. Eventually both women fail at liberating themselves from the unsatisfying lifestyles.
In conclusion, Elisa in “The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck and Mrs. Mallard in “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin have a lot in common due to the similar struggles the characters experience. Both Elisa and Mrs. Mallard were grisly unhappy and lonely in their marriages. Secondly, Elisa and Mrs. Mallard crave the same sense of manumission from the housewife label and thirdly, the two women also fail at becoming anything else than housewives.
Works cited
Chopin, Kate. The story of an hour. Jimcin Recordings, 1981.
Chopin, Kate. The story of an hour. Joe Books Ltd, 2018.
Sweet, Charles A. “Ms. Elisa Allen and Steinbeck’s” The Chrysanthemums”.” Modern Fiction Studies 20.2 (1974):
Thomas, Leroy. “Steinbeck’s the Chrysanthemums.” The Explicator 45.3 (1987)