Gender Criticism free essay sample

Her character is first introduced as â€Å"blocked and heavy†, with clodhoppers, heavy gloves and a man’s black hat. Her face is described as â€Å"eager and mature and handsome. All of these are very masculine descriptions, like Steinbeck is going out of his way to make her seem as manly as possible. Elisa’s initial reactions to situations in the book tend to be masculine as well, but she is eventually reminded that she is supposed to be feminine. When her husband Henry concludes his business with the cattle buyers, Elisa immediately wants to know who the men were and what they wanted. Henry pays her a compliment about her â€Å"strong new crop† of chrysanthemums. She is smug and pleased with his masculine choice of words, but then he immediately invites her to dinner in town. She seems to deflate at his statement, as if his invitation reminded her of her femininity. We will write a custom essay sample on Gender Criticism or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page She then goes back to her masculine role of working with the flowers. She again reacts this way with the handy man that comes to her fence. She initially rejects the man’s offer to fix her pots and pans and to sharpen her scissors. She tells him that she can mend her own pots and sharpen her own scissors. She is ready to turn him away, but then he starts to ask her about her chrysanthemums. The man starts complimenting her flowers and flattering her. She immediately changes her tune, and she seems to become attracted to him. He tells her that he knows a lady that would love to have some of her beautiful flowers, so she gets him a pot with some bulbs to take to the lady. She then relents and goes to find some work for the man. This scene points to a woman’s weakness for flattery. Elisa doesn’t realize that the man was manipulating her. Her attraction to the handy man seems to bring out the feminine side of Elisa. She goes in to get ready for dinner with her husband and scrubs herself â€Å"until her skin was scratched and red†. She is retreating back to her feminine traits without really thinking about it. She then puts on her best underwear and dress and applies makeup. Her husband comments on how nice she looks, and this flatters her. While on the way to dinner with her husband Elisa finally realizes that she had been taken advantage of. She sees that the handy man has discarded her beloved chrysanthemums in the ditch on the side of the road. She realizes that the man used flattery of her and her flowers to get work. This realization makes her break down and cry. She then understands that she is doomed to her current role in society, a passive woman, and she hates it. This story also points to the arrogance and assumptions of men. Elisa’s husband never thinks that there could possibly be anything for her to be unhappy about. Elisa starts to get combative toward him and challenging his compliments when they are getting ready to leave the house. She is upset that he told her she looked nice, when earlier in the day he described her as strong. Then after she sees the flowers on the side of the road she remarks on how good it will be to have dinner away from the house. The husband acts bewildered and says, â€Å"Now you’re changed again. † He doesn’t understand why she should have anything to be upset about. I think that Steinbeck does a great job of bringing gender inequality issues to light in this story.