Literary Criticism in Regards to “The Chrysanthemums” and “The Painted Door”

The author Emily Wingate, was a student at the Dartmouth University, during the time that she wrote this essay. The essay won Dartmouth’s annual Literary Theory contest, which is reviewed by the ivy league university’s top ranked english professors such as Dr. Michael A. Chaney and Dr. Colleen Glenney Boggs. Wingate’s thesis is that, women in society are not given a voice, and are taught to suppress their emotions. The author conveys her thesis through exploring the protagonist of the story, “The Chrysanthemums”, Elisa, who is not content with her life however, she refuses to express her unhappiness as she has little confidence in herself. Wingate also discusses the roles of women in the society, as women are portrayed as wives, not people and must conduct themselves in order to please their husband which is shown by how Elisa gardens, as did her mother, however unlike her mother she does not nurture the plants, but instead she gardens in a much more powerful manor, which Wingate deems to be quite “manly”. This article is quite useful as it demonstrates the effect that a patriarchal society has on the happiness and general mental wellbeing of women.

The author of this “Feminism in The Chrysanthemums”, Siti Fatihah, has studied English literature, and teaches English as a second language to students in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Her thesis throughout the article is how women are forced into specific roles in society, and as a result are unable to fully be themselves. Fatihah emphasizes how the author of The Chrysanthemums, John Steinbeck, who won a Nobel Prize in Literature, demonstrated how society views, men as strong and powerful and views women as weak, however in reality women, such as Elisa, are truly strong individuals. The author’s cultural background provides a fresh take on feminism, and particularly gender stereotyping. Fatihah also includes numerous quotes from outside sources that could be beneficial while writing the essay.

The author, Dr. Darrell Dobson, who has a PH. D from the University of Toronto in Education, has published numerous educational pieces of literature that are primarily targeted towards educators. He is also president of the Jungian Society for Scholarly Studies and is editor of Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies. His thesis in his scholarly article “Archetypal Literary Theory in the Postmodern era”, is that although the Painted Door could be viewed solely as a patriarchal, or anti-feminist, piece of literature, Dobson believes, that viewing the story by solely one lense would undermine the integrity of the art. His theory is that due to the polysemous nature of art, all readers need to support multiple perspectives in order to fully appreciate the art. His belief is that although it is true that “female independence and sexuality are dealt a blow by patriarchy”, that a Jungian lense or a Psychoanalytical lense would provide different ways of viewing this piece of literature. In combining many lenses, it would result in a better understanding of the literature. The author also sheds light onto the sexist manner in which women’s sexuality is often portrayed.

Dobsons theory could be very valuable in writing the essay it in order to fully comprehend a story from one lense, I should first view the story from all lenses. This could be very beneficial not only while writing the essay but in all future readings.